Never Imagined It'd Be You
by The Fairy Tail Me
Summary: Fairy Tail's in danger. But will the events spark a new love, or was she already falling for him? The previous title was- Through Thick And Thin, It's Always Been You I just found this more appropriate. Sorry for the inconvenience. And I apologize again for not reviewing the chapters, since there was HTML in some of them, and I didn't know how to correct it earlier. Enjoy! 3 XD 3
1. Chapter 1

It was getting late. The sky was already dark outside, and these were rough times. I wanted to get home soon, as it was cold. Winter was still a far way to go, but it was just some of those chilly days. I waved goodbye to the few people who were still hanging around at the guild and started walking home.

I pulled my cloak around me, for one, to shield me from the cold, and the other, to mask my identity. I took fast steps towards my apartment as I missed it after my three-day long job. I sighed. It was my first job without Natsu. I hadn't seen him at the guild the whole day; neither did I see Happy, so I assumed they'd gone out on a job. But, there still was a feeling at the back of my mind that this wasn't the case.

A cold wind blew, making me shiver. I pulled my cloak tighter around me. I had to go and have a hot shower at home soon. Just thinking about one made me feel relaxed. I walked on faster, to reach my destination as soon as possible.

There were no street lights on one particular road, and I tripped. I thought it was a stone at first, but then I noticed it was warm, no, not just warm, it was hot, and it was soft too. I turned back I got back up, and with the help of as faint light could make out that it was the figure of as person. I was about to walk on, but I saw something that stopped me. It was a scarf. A scarf that looked like a dragon's scales.

I recognised it immediately, it was Natsu. A wave of worry flooded me. I walked back to him, and looked closely to check if it really was him. It was Natsu. I tried waking him up, but he was unconscious. He was breathing heavily and his body was hot. Natsu was usually warmer than normal people, but it was completely different this time. He was burning hot. He had a fever. I quickly took off my cloak. He needed it more than me.

I searched around for Happy. He was nowhere to be seen. That left me no choice. I had to take him on my own. I lifted him up with great difficulty, and started walking home. Natsu seemed heavier than he ever was. It must have been because of the fever.

The only thing I didn't understand was how he got there, and why he was lying down like that on the street, out of everyone's view. Was it an enemy? Natsu could have defeated anyone if he wanted to. I had faith in him. He wasn't weak. Or was it someone whom he couldn't fight? Rather someone who overpowered him? I didn't think there could be anyone like that.

It couldn't be a usual brawl, or he wouldn't be knocked out. It seemed too convenient. Firstly, he was on a street with no street lights; secondly, he was in a corner where almost no one would notice him. Happy was not with him too. The most important thing though, was that he was knocked out. That alone was enough to raise suspicion, at least among the guild members.

The only thing I could think of was that he was caught offhand, and knocked out. I decided to think about in detail later as I saw my apartment come into view. I could always ask Natsu about what happened rather that speculate theories about it in my over-imaginative brain.

When I was inside and had locked up my door, I lay Natsu on the bed and checked his temperature. It was pretty high, but I couldn't take him to the guild's infirmary. Everyone would be gone and I was too tired to go anyways.

Carrying Natsu had made me too tired even to think. I was not in a condition to even take a shower, so I just got ready to make my make-shift bed. I'd have to sleep on the floor... even in this cold! I pushed my mental baggage to the back of my brain and went to sleep without even taking a blanket or a pillow.

I dreamt of different things that made no sense at all, and they were boring, as usual. We were in port Hargeon, Levy and I. We entered a restaurant to satiate our hunger after a whole day of shopping. The restaurant was empty, even though it was a weekend. The size of the restaurant was nothing to laugh at either. It was about the size of our own guild.

A waiter came up to us with water. It seemed a pleasant place enough so we didn't understand why no one else was dining at the place. We got our food soon, and dug in. It was nothing to complain about. It tasted of something familiar, yet I couldn't grasp it immediately. I wasn't something I'd tasted before, as in food, but I'd tasted it in feeling. The food started tasting repulsive, but it wasn't the food. It was the vibes I got. I didn't know how it affected us directly from the food, though. I finally realised what I tasted.

It was bloodlust. Before I could warn Levy, she passed out. I became more alert than I was when I entered the restaurant. I tried waking Levy up, but she gave no response, and I could sense no magic power from her. I thought it was because I was dizzy myself, but the place was very suspicious in itself. If it wasn't, then Levy wouldn't have fainted, and I wouldn't have lost my magic power. I wanted to summon a spirit to help me, but my magic power depleted greatly when I tried to do it. I tried to leave with Levy, but a sharp blow at the back of my head prevented me from doing so.

The next I knew, I was surrounded by something all around me. It was cold, and I couldn't breathe. My muscles wouldn't move an inch, either, for me to surface and catch my breath. My field of vision was narrowed because I was still dizzy, but I could notice Levy, still knocked out, and she was in a condition far worse than mine. I tried all I could to reach out to her, but all was in vain.

I couldn't hold my breath in any longer, and my consciousness started fading away. Just then, I felt a warm sensation around me. I wanted to scream out that it was actually Levy that needed the help, but my tiredness got the best of me, and I fainted.

The rest of the dream elapsed into something happier.

I woke up soon, only to find myself in my own bed. I searched around for Natsu, calling for him, but I got no response. I figured he must have left early as it was already ten when I woke up. I just hoped that he was better. His fever was bad the last night.

I wanted to ask him about what happened that day, but at the same time, I was also thankful he wasn't there. I needed some time for myself and a breakfast that wouldn't set me back on my reserve cash. Natsu could easily exhaust my whole week's supply of food in one meal.

I went down to the kitchen to make myself a decent breakfast that would help me regain my lost energy. These cold days weren't made for me.

I wanted to have some comfort food, and the only idea that came to my mind (actually screaming at my mind) was Pancakes. I made my pancakes and sat down at the table, slowly chewing down my food. I kept staring at the wall, and imagined different shapes forming on it. It helped me take my mind off the issue of the previous night.

When I was finally done with my breakfast, I went and got dressed to go to the guild. My cloak was nowhere in the house, so I assumed it must still have been with Natsu. I took out my beige overcoat as a replacement for it, and stepped out of the house. It was still chilly. I walked to the guild fast, so I could be warmed by the heat lacrima in the guild that acted as a fireplace.

The fireplace (or heat lacrima), was in the centre of the guild, so that no one, and no one at all, could fight for it. It also kept the guild livelier, if that was even possible.

The weather was not usually this cold, even in the winters. It was an odd thing. There was hardly ever anyone outside (and there was more than enough reason for that), as the cold was severe, there was no moisture in the air and there were hardly any clouds due to that. The trees were all almost withered, and above all, there was a deathly silence in the air. Even the wind that blew whispered an eerie and empty silence that would send a chill down the spine, even if it weren't for the cold.

I reached the guild sooner than I had expected, and ran toward the heat lacrima to warm myself up, before I went to meet anyone. I heard someone stomping towards me.

"Lu-chan!" she said in an angry tone. "I've been waiting for you for so long."

"Levy-chan! I'm sorry. I woke up late. I was very tired last night. Bye the way, have you seen Natsu?"

"No. We've not seen Happy or him for the past three days. They might still be on their job."

I shook my head. "I met Natsu yesterday. Well, not exactly met, but at least I saw him."

Then I spilled out to her everything that happened the previous night.

She let out a sigh. "I don't know what could've happened. Anyway, let's go in. Mira-san wanted to do something fun."

"Like what?"

"You'll see."

We went there and Mira-san smiled her wonderful smile that could make anyone's day. But somehow, I was still uneasy. The dream, which shouldn't have bothered me, was hitting at me from the back of my mind. I felt there was something more to it than of it just being a dream; only, I didn't know what.

I tried to avoid it taking the main focus of my mind, and enjoyed the game that Mira-san had set for us after that task was accomplished.

When it started becoming dark outside, I took my leave, and went home soon, without paying much attention to anything else around me. The usually lively Magnolia was now deserted, and it wasn't a very nice sight.

I reached home and first went to the shower. As soon as the hot water touched my skin, I felt all the tiredness leave me. I stood under the shower for a long time, the water helped loosen my body after the cold had nearly frozen it. I got out of the shower and changed into a pair of pyjamas.

I wasn't hungry, so I just drank some milk and I went back upstairs to complete my book. I sat down at my desk letting my hand flow, filling the page with the words that seemed to just come one after another continuously. I didn't stop writing till I was very sleepy. I got into my warm, cozy bed and turned off the lights. Hardly a few minutes after I went to sleep, the window started rattling, and the sound woke me up.

The minute I got up to pull the curtains; there was a sharp knock on my window. I couldn't make out the figure outside, and wanted to just get over with anything that disturbed me, so I could go to sleep.

I opened the window, and gasped because of the cold wind that chilled me to the core. I didn't take notice of the person, but somehow he entered and closed the window before another gust of air could affect me (I happened to know that it was a 'he' that came in due to my intuition that I lacked in until recently, but it had suddenly bestowed its ever shining light upon me.)

I came back to my senses once the window closed, and I called out to know who came in (even though the answer should have been obvious to me), "Who is it? How can you disturb a girl in deep sleep? And that too, in this time of night?"

But before I could even get a response, the window glass broke, and the glass struck me in my elbow. I sensed the imminent danger, and got off my bed, ready to attack in case anything happened, but the glass stuck in my arm pained my to an extent where I couldn't even think clearly.

And before I could even figure out what was going on, a wave of calm spread over me, and I slipped into oblivion.

When I woke up, it was already morning. The pain in my left hand had subsided a lot, I looked at my arm. It was bandaged, but not properly. It seemed to be done by a complete amateur. I sat up in my bed, and pulled the curtains to the sides, but immediately closed it when I realised the window was broken. I didn't want another taste of that cold wind that upset my system all the time. I heard the turning of the doorknob to my room, and I looked curiously to see who entered.

The door creaked open, revealing Natsu. I sighed with relief. I couldn't believe it was Natsu that bandaged me. Actually, I could, since it was done so horribly, but I never thought 'he' would administer medication to anyone. He was too dumb for that. I had never seen him do anything as such.

Well, I'd seen him do work when we were out on jobs, but it was never constructive, or even _if_ it was constructive (which was rarely the case), I didn't expect it to be of this sort.

He entered and smiled widely when he entered.

"Good morning. How's your wound?"

I scowled. "Try using the door for a change."

"I just used one now."

"Not this time; I meant, when you knocked at my window in the night." I paused. "And don't disturb me so late."

He didn't say anything for a while. I guessed he was thinking. Really? _That_ Natsu. Thinking? I couldn't believe it.

His stomach answered for him by growling loud. I sighed. Then he spoke "I came in last night because I was hungry."

Well, if he just had to say that, he needn't have thought about it that much. Something wasn't right.

"Can't you make your own food? Ugh. Okay, I'll make something."

"Hey, Lucy, don't be so mean. I know you are a nice person."

"Well, you're wrong about that. I'm not a _nice_ person."

"Okay. I'm sorry about bandaging you."

"Thank you for that. Oh! Didn't I thank you before?"

"No."

"Sorry."

"Hmm."

I went down to the kitchen to make something. After breakfast was done, I went to replace my bandages while Natsu followed me all around. I decided to get some answers from him.

"Natsu, answer me a few questions."

"Okay."

"Why were you lying on the streets that night? You had a fever too. What happened? Where was Happy? Why did you leave so early yesterday? It seemed strange. Did someone attack you? Why didn't you fight back then? Were you caught by surprise? But you weren't even hurt. I'm confused. Okay. What happened?"

"Those were too many questions, and I don't know what happened myself. I felt a strange magic, and went to investigate it. I don't know what happened after that."

"You didn't find anything then? I was really worried."

"No, but thanks for saving me that night. I forgot to tell you earlier. And I left without saying anything too. I went to search for Happy, that's why."

"Oh! Okay, that's no problem. Did you find him?"

"No. I forgot that he went to meet the Exceeds along with Carla and Lily."

"You're such a blockhead."

"No... I'm not a blockhead."

"Say what you want. You know the truth yourself."

"What truth?"

"You're pathetic."

"Don't say that Lucy."

"Hmm."

Then, we didn't speak again until I had finished bandaging my arm. Somehow, it felt like the reason behind Natsu lying on the streets the other day was not something to just pass off. It was more complicated than it seemed.

Natsu and I soon went to the guild. I didn't want to waste any time. I'd promised Levy-chan to help her. She wanted to bake cookies for Gajeel. I found it humorous that the two of them got along so well. I wanted to tease her about it. She wouldn't take it seriously anyway.

She told me that she needed my help yesterday, but I was in too much of a hurry to get home for me to even consider teasing her.

We reached the guild in a few minutes and I hurried on toward the fireplace. The weather got colder and worse with each oncoming day. Even Gray, whose habit of stripping never left him in any kind of weather, wore two layers of clothes on these days. The most incredible part, though, was that he hadn't stripped even once for quite some time.

Levy came and pulled me out my reverie soon.

"Lu-chan! Lu-chan! LU-CHAN! Come on now, we have work to do."

"Yes, yes, Levy-chan… wait. Where do we go?"

"My dorm of course, Lu-chan."

"Right. Come on, we have cookies to bake."

We stepped out of the guild and I asked her if she was bringing anyone else.

"No Lu-chan. I've only told you about it. If I tell anyone else, word will go around."

"I see…"

"What do you 'see'?"

"You don't want anyone to know that you like Gajeel."

She blushed and turned away from me to hide her red face. She didn't say anything until we reached her dorm. I didn't say anything either, though the urge to tease her was very much.

Levy's dorm was cozy. It was full of bookshelves.

I wanted to finish writing soon, because I knew Levy would be a good critic and also that she was waiting to read my book.

We hung around her bedroom for a while. Around lunch time, we went to the kitchen to finish with our baking.

Levy made me laugh by saying that instead of chocolate chips, she wanted to add iron screws. I told her it was a good idea, so we decided to do it.

When the cookies were done, we just packed it into a box. We didn't dare take a bite of it, for fear of losing our teeth.

We ate a hearty lunch, and went to Levy's study. She had some of the most beautiful stationery which complemented her writing.

Levy asked me to stay with her for a sleepover, but I cleverly refused it. I couldn't let Levy see my arm.

Levy got more worried about such things than even Mira-san. She would tell me to stay with her the entire time, but now, I was determined to complete that book.

I couldn't complete it if I wasn't at home. Levy was such a great friend of mine, and had always supported me in whatever I wanted to do. I had to give her something in return.

We left her house and walked to the guild. It was a short walk, so we decided to stop by a few shops nearby that promised good stuff.

It soon got dark outside, and I left to Levy and walked on home.

All the shops around me were closing. I passed by the magic store where I bought my key to the celestial spirit Nicolas. I retraced my steps to the steps to the shop, and entered, for I felt a need to buy something (I was still in the shopping mood).

I looked through the shop and found a heat lacrima. It reminded me of Natsu. I bought the lacrima so it could keep my room warm. It also strangely attracted me (it was on sale), and then, after buying it, I continued home. The cold got progressively worse, so I hurried home, thinking of a warm, relaxing shower.

I think I was walking with my eyes closed, because I ran into a pole. Rather, I only thought it was a pole. I felt icy when I banged into it. I felt my head my head I took a step back. There was a slight bump. I really thought it was a pole until then.

I was about to walk on, when the so called 'pole' started talking "Are you fine, miss?"

It was a sweet voice that spoke, which seemed befitting of a little girl. I turned up to answer. "Well, yes, I think I'm fine."

I noticed the girl then. She was a lot taller than me, and was in an outfit that didn't seem suitable for the weather. She apologised, saying that she should've been more careful.

"No, no, that's fine. But are you okay? You seem worse. Do you need anything?"

"I'd just like to get a place to rest. That's more than I'll need."

As the guild was closer to me than my own home, I took her there. I could worry about going home later.

Mira-san was yet to go home, so I told her that the girl next to me needed help. I immediately pulled the girl over to the heat lacrima and Mira-san got her some hot coffee.

The girl became relaxed, and some colour came into her previously pale cheeks. When I looked at her then, under proper light, I saw that she was beautiful. She had sharp features, teal coloured irises and long lilac hair that reached her waist. Her complexion was cream and roses, which surprisingly, suited her other features.

The colours would seem awkward on a person usually, but somehow, on her, it was magnificent. I didn't know if it was what she wore or whether she looked so good naturally, all I knew was that she was very pretty. Her beauty rivalled that of even Mira-san's, in my eyes.

I sat down at the bar counter, and looked around. There were only the three of us at the guild. I stared at the wall for a while, debating with myself about how I should go home.

Mira-san came to the counter shortly, offered to have late night snacks with us. We agreed to the idea. Then it dawned upon me that I never asked the girl her name.

"Umm… excuse me. I never did ask you your name. What do I call you?"

"Yeah. I never did introduce myself. I'm Misha. You can call me that."

"Such a nice name! Do you have a second name?"

"No. I'm just Misha. What about you? I don't know your name either."

"I'm Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia. This is Mirajane Strauss."

"I know Mira-san. She's almost always on the weekly sorcerer."

"Yeah. Our Mira-san is the best."

"I know that now."

We stopped talking for a while when Mira-san set some snacks on the counter. Misha was the first to talk, after the long pause.

"I've been meaning to join Fairy Tail for a while. I'm so glad that I arrived at the right place. Can I join?"

"Of course you can. Everyone will be so happy to see a new member in the guild." Mira-san said. She herself was beaming with joy.

"Are you sure?"

"If I wasn't, I wouldn't have told you that."

Misha smiled.

"Where would you like your guild mark, Misha?" Mira-san was already with the stamp, waiting to impress the guild mark on Misha.

"On my left hand, please."

Mira-san put the guild mark on her hand. It was a bright teal that matched the shade of her eyes.

It was already late, so I decided to save all my questions for the next day. For a moment, I'd forgotten how cold it was outside, so the minute I stepped out, I felt like I was almost frozen.

I started walking home fast, in hope that at least my body warmth would keep me from getting frozen.

I reached my home soon, and hung my coat on the coat-rack. I stripped and entered my bathroom, and I couldn't wait to get the water washing away my tiredness.

I wrapped myself in a towel and opened the door, but the lights were already on. I shrugged it off, thinking I must have accidentally left it on.

I pulled the curtains away and slipped on a bar of soap that I didn't notice, and I screamed out loud. There definitely was someone in my bathroom.

My head hit the ground, and as expected, my nerves failed me. I fainted.


	2. Chapter 2

"Lucy, Lucy, how long are you going to sleep on the floor? Lucy, Lucy, wake up."

I heard the voice of the person that gave me absolutely no personal space. I sighed and tried to get up and a warm hand supported me. I gladly took the help. It was the least he could do after causing me all the trouble that I've been through. Though, he was the one who always came to my rescue when I landed in trouble, and I owed him for that.

My vision was still hazy, and my head pained me badly. I sat up straight and rubbed my eyes. Ants pulled me back so I could rest against the wall. After five minutes of sitting still, my headache subsided, making it possible for me to think normally.

"Natsu, I'll kill you someday."

"Lucy, you're back to normal."

"Yeah. I am."

My vision improved slowly, and I saw that my towel was still on. I wanted to take a bath very badly, so I told Natsu to go out. He frowned (I could only make that out because of his whining).

"Lucy, you're so mean."

"So what if I am?"

"I was in the middle of my bath too. You disturbed me by slipping on the soap."

"It was your mistake that the soap was on the floor in the first place. And wait… does that mean you're naked?" Get out you pervert. 'What was he even thinking' I blushed hard, though I didn't think he noticed.

"You're mean Lucy."

"Even I need a bath. Get out before I kick you out. LUCY KICK!"

I made an imitation of a kick that didn't get me anywhere, and I know it as well.

"Lucy, are you trying to be funny?"

"You know perfectly well that I'm not. I'm just trying to get you out."

"Okay, Lucy."

I was in no position to do anything as yet, but as soon as I heard the bathroom door close, I made an effort to send and walk to the tub. The minute I was in it, I felt all my aches and pains leaving me, and I was completely relaxed.

Before I knew it, though, I fell asleep in the bathtub. Sometime later, when the water turned cold, I heard the sound of the bathroom door creaking open. Crap, Natsu left it open when he left. I immediately got out of the cold bathtub, and wrapped my towel around me.

My vision was perfect by then, so I exited the bathroom easily, and entered my bedroom for a change of clothes. I looked around my room, for I had a feeling that the pink haired pervert was still around.

The coast was clear, so in a matter of seconds, I got to my wardrobe and changed into a pair of pyjamas. I believed Natsu really wasn't around after I hopped into my bed and tossed around trying to get sleep.

Just to prove I was wrong (the gods hated me), a snore came from the sofa. So he was there after all. But I was happy that he wasn't sleeping in my bed. If he was, I'd have to sleep on the floor, and that I wouldn't accept at any cost.

I went to sleep soon, somehow making my over-imaginative mind shut down.

Natsu woke me up the next morning. It was early for my standards, but I suppose it was not so for hungry creatures.

He tickled the soles of my feet (for the second time!) and made sounds that brought out my laughter.

"Stop that, it tickles!" And continued laughing, till I fell off my bed. Then Natsu took his turn of laughing at me.

I got angry, so I got up and stomped off to the bathroom and then splashed some water on my face thoroughly and tried to tie my hair into a ponytail, but my head pained me badly again. I decided to leave it s it was and went to open the door that was being constantly knocked on.

"Yeah, I'm coming out. Don't break my door."

"Lucy, I'm hungry."

Next thing he knew, he was out of the house, and I made sure to double lock every sort of entrance that I could imagine of.

I entered the kitchen next, and opened a new box of breakfast cereal. I liked to eat mine with milk, so I poured enough so I could have my cereal swimming gin it.

I finished up my breakfast soon, and went to get ready to get to the guild. We had a new member waiting for us, Misha.

I put on my beige overcoat and stepped out of my house. The cold seemed worse off than yesterday. I sighed.

Natsu was sulking in a corner of the guild, but I didn't want to meet him then. He would be the one to come running after me later. I went to the bar counter and sat next to Misha.

"Hi Misha."

"Oh! Hi, Lucy-san."

"So, how do you find our guild? It's not yet as lively as it should be, though."

"Oh. I love the guild. And I'd love to see it lively too. Is it a good thing or a bad thing to say that?"

"I'm not sure. You can decide after seeing for yourself."

"Okay."

"By the way, what magic do you use Misha?"

"I use Anomalous conditions magic."

"Oh, that's wonderful! I'm a celestial wizard."

"So nice… how many keys do you have?"

"Ten golden keys and a few silver ones."

"That's a pretty huge collection you've got there."

"Hmm. Do you want to go and have a look at the town?"

"No. Not as yet. I'll go out with you later."

"Okay! Truth be told, I don't want to go out so soon myself, either."

After a long break of silence, Mira-san was the first to talk. She just came from the other end of the counter.

"Oh! Why are things so quiet here?"

"Nothing much…just… I was thinking Mira-san, shouldn't we all go to the hot springs? It'll be a girls' night out."

"That's a good idea Lucy. I bet that's what everyone would want, especially in this cold…"

"Is that a 'yes', Mira-san?"  
"Yes. I'll go get the other girls. When do we go?"

"How about tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, okay."

She went about asking everyone what they wanted to do. We ended up with everyone wanting to go.

"It'll be a good time for all of us." Mira-san said.

I was happy that, finally, we could all go relax someplace without people barging into our homes. (I was referring to Natsu, of course.)

Levy was sitting at one of the tables with Cana. I went to sit with her.

"Levy-chan, how did Gajeel like your cookies?"

"Shh, Lu-chan."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"You didn't seem sorry."

"I heard you gave your cookies to Gajeel." Said Cana.

"How?" Asked Levy.

"He told everybody."

"I'm doomed. Now, all of you will start teasing me… Lu-chan!"

"It isn't a problem; we know how you feel Levy-chan. Right, Cana?"

"Bang on."

"Thank you, Lu-chan, Cana-chan."

We both just smiled at her. She was sensitive about Gajeel, and that was actually very funny to see.

"I want to go on a job, Levy. I'll go check out the requests."

I went to see the requests that were pinned to the notice board. There were many jobs that required physical exertion. I wanted to be comfortable and relaxed as anyone could be in this cold weather.

There was a job request for a reward of one hundred and twenty thousand jewels. That, together with the money I already had, would be just right for two months' rent. I went to the counter to tell Mira-san I was doing the job.

"Oh! You'll be back soon. It isn't that far away. You're going alone again?"

"Yes. I don't want that Natsu tagging along this time."

She laughed "You two get along pretty well."

"We do not." I blurted out in frustration. But deep down, I knew the truth. I got along with Natsu really well.

I took the job request paper and rushed out of the guild, so no one would notice me leave. I pulled my coat taut around me and took fats steps towards my apartment so I could pack and leave by the earliest train.

I was in the Magnolia station in record time. I got an empty seat to sit in. I pulled out a few sheets of paper and adjusted the table attached to the wall of the train so I could write.

Just before I wrote anything, though, a feather tickled my neck. I first screamed, then fell off the seat, laughing. Natsu was in serious trouble this time. He was going to face my wrath the minute he stopped tickling me. I got off the floor of the train, and immediately landed a blow in Natsu's head (not that it had any effect). He was still laughing his heart out. I sat looking out of the window with my arms crossed. Then, the train gave one whistle. I suppressed a smile.

"Why did you leave me behind, Lucy?"  
"I didn't want to go on a job with you, that's why. I have to pay my rent, and I can't have you go on another round of destroying stuff on the job. It will worsen my current financial state as well."

But the train started before I started my sentence, so he didn't hear anything I said. I sighed disappointment. I'd have to do my best to earn what money I could on this job. I smiled to myself. I also felt relieved that Natsu was here, despite his appearance with his motion sickness in full swing.

The train stopped at Onibas. I pulled Natsu out of the train. He was unwilling to get up on his own. When we were finally settled, Natsu said his standard monologue of never entering a train again. We both knew it was impossible.

"By the way, Lucy, what job did you choose?"

"It's not cut out for you."

"It's okay. Just tell me."

"Babysitting."

"I think I can handle that."

"We have to escort the client to the next station."

"Can I go back to Magnolia, Lucy?"

"Yeah. I didn't even call you in the first place. Just remember you have to take the train back anyways."

"No, I'll go back home with Happy-"

"Who, Happy?"

"I forgot he's not here." He grinned, but I knew from that smile immediately. He was hiding something.

"What are you hiding Natsu? I know you're not telling me something. Quit the act, you're a bad actor."

"You saw through me, Lucy. Actually... I don't know where Happy is."

"Wait... what? You don't know where Happy is? Why are you so clam? I knew something was off that night when I saw you lying on the street. Tell me what happened."

But, before he could say anything, a girl ran up to me and tugged on my coat.

"Are you the one escorting me to the next station?"

"Yes, I am, if you are talking about a Fairy Tail wizard, rather, two. Could you tell me your name little girl?"

"It's Caroline Lee. And I'm no kid."

"Oh sorry. Such a beautiful name, Caroline-chan."

"Please call me Emily."

I had a confused expression on my face, but agreed without asking too many questions. At least for the time being.

"Shall we get going? The train will leave in a few minutes." Said Caroline; rather, Emily.

"Let's go in Natsu."

"Should I really come, Lucy?"

"This time I'm forcing you." I had to hear what the deal about Happy was.

"Oh, okay, Lucy." And when he reached the door of the train, he screamed out "I HATE TRAINS! I REALLY DO HATE THEM!"

"THEN DON'T GO IN!" screamed an officer who stood near us. Natsu ignored it and went in, and I followed him.

Emily was already seated, and I took my seat opposite her. Natsu sat down next to me.

I noticed the girl's features as she looked out of the window. She had fiery orange locks that framed her face in the best possible way, and had irises to match. Her complexion was rosy enough to gel with the colour of her hair. She wore a heavy grey gothic gown and had an air about her that screamed 'royalty'.

Lee... I'd heard that name before somewhere. It seemed rather familiar in not a pleasant way, but rather in a terrible way. I couldn't remember what it was. By then, due to the over-imaginative, rather paranoid me, my curiosity was perked up, and I just couldn't contain it within myself. I had to ask her.

Five minutes had already passed by then since the train started to move, and Natsu was... oh well...

"What's with him?"  
"Natsu can't handle transportation."

She turned her face away with disgust and moved away from Natsu as far as she could.

I sighed. "Why did you ask me to call you Emily, Emily-chan?"

"I hate my real name."

"Why's that?"

"It's a long story."

"I think I can handle that."

"Oh well. Here goes."

And she started her story which engrossed me more and more by the minute. "I'd like to know your name before telling you anything. I don't talk to strangers so comfortably."

"I'm Lucy Heartfilia." I said, ignoring her comment. Emily gave me a startled expression, but continued.

"Lucy-san, I don't know how to begin. I have a lot to tell you. Though I can only give you headlines for now."

"Start where you can. I'll connect the dots."

"Lucy-san... our families were never on good terms. Nut I'll ask you to hear me out to the end, and then decide for yourself what you feel is right." She paused and took a deep breath. "Fairy Tail is in danger. I can stop the coming danger, but I need your help. Firstly, you'll need to forget that my real name is Caroline Lee."

"I cannot tell you anything very important, but I'll tell you one thing- don't stay alone for even a moment. You know very well that Fiore is not as calm as it used to be. The weather speaks for itself. But I don't think it's just a phase of bad weather. There are a number of strong wizards who can use forms of magic unknown to you and me."

"Are you saying a person is behind all this?"

"Precisely."

Just then, we reached the train station.

"I can't talk anymore Lucy-san. If you want to talk to me, I live in the mango groves around here. I know I can be of help to you."

"She turned away when we got off the train, but I heard her sniff. I couldn't imagine a reason for her to cry. I gave her the personal space she needed and pulled the motion sickness overwhelmed Natsu out of the train.

"Here's the reward." She gave me a box. I wondered why it was in a box.

"Thanks, Emily-chan."

"Bye Lucy-san."

"Bye. I'll see you soon."

She made an expression of hesitance and seemed like she was fighting something inside her. She turned away, though and left the station. Natsu was still affected by the long journey, so I left him on a bench and went to get two return tickets to Magnolia. As I waited in queue, I saw a weird person who wore loud colours. There were also ruffles and frills on his clothes. I laughed to myself. Some people didn't know how to dress.

I was the next one in line. I fumbled for my cash when a deep male voice issued from behind me. "Young lady, would you mind telling me where Caroline Lee is, if you've met her."

I didn't feel like telling him anything. He seemed very suspicious. "I'm sorry. I don't know anyone like that." And I proceeded to buy the tickets, but he placed a hand on my shoulder, and in one push, turned me around to face him.

"I saw you with her. Don't play dumb."

Crap. He saw that. "That wasn't her, it was Emily."

"Emily... Lee... pretty close. And I know what Caroline  
Lee looks like so don't try to fool me.

"I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone. The same applies to you, no matter who you are."

"Then I'll just have to make you tell me."

"I won't say a word. You can't make me."

"We'll see about that." And in one swift motion, grabbed me keys off me, and sent me flying into a pillar. For crying out loud, Natsu was still out of commission. I knew that in spite of him not being in my field of vision.

The man came toward me and pulled me up by my hair. Then he banged me head first into the wall. He thrusted his fist into my stomach after that. I screamed louder than I'd ever screamed before. Then, I heard a voice bellow "LUCY, I'M COMING!"

I felt comforted for a moment, but again, before Natsu reached me, the man who still had a grip on me landed a sharp blow on my left thigh. I let out an even louder scream. I felt and heard my bone break. He was just preparing to land another blow on me, but unfortunately for him, Natsu got in front of me in time and prevented just that.

"NO ONE HURTS A FRIEND OF MINE, UNLESS THEY WISH TO SEE HELL!"

I dropped to the floor, whimpering in pain, while the angered Natsu started attacking the person attacking me. Natsu defeated him like he was nothing at all, and then he came and crouched down to my level.

"Can you stand, Lucy?"

My left thigh sat at a funny angle, so I knew for sure that it was broken. Natsu noticed it too, after following my eyes. Before I could reply, though, Natsu picked me up and started running towards the infirmary.

The doctors put a cast on my leg. I knew then that I couldn't go to the hot spring that all of us planned to go to. Too bad that such things couldn't be solved with magic overnight. Wendy would be able to help me, but I wouldn't fully recover until sometime.

When the casting was done, I tried to walk with the help of a pair of crutches. The minute I took one step, I lost my balance, and would have broken a few teeth if Natsu hadn't caught me in time.

"Lucy... What are you doing? You're in a pathetic state."

I was flustered. "Pathetic state, yes, but I couldn't do anything at that time. Sorry for causing you the troubles to save a pathetic life like mine." I'd never spoken to anyone like that before, but the frustration of being completely helpless got to me.

"Lucy, I never said anything for you to get so angry. I was just teasing you. And I don't remember you causing me trouble. Saving my friend is not 'trouble' to me."

"I'm sorry. I just feel horrible about always having to depend on others. It makes me feel so helpless."

"It's actually everyone else that depends on you. Anyways, we need to get back Lucy. It's late already."

I nodded and propelled myself forward. I would have fallen again. I'll never learn. Natsu placed his hand on my waist, and helped me move without my nose kissing the ground, but seeing as it was useless (it was very slow), he sighed and lifted me up again.

"Natsu put me down. I can walk."

"Yes, you can _walk,_ but you're too slow. The train will leave before you can make it there."

I didn't complain. Wasn't he the one who always complained about me being heavy? Why was he offering his 'gentlemanly' services now? I sighed and smiled to myself. Despite all his complaining and commentary, he was someone you could always depend upon.

He placed me on a seat in the train and sat opposite me. I kept looking out the window at the passing fields and towns while Natsu was in his 'motion sickness' mode.

We reached Magnolia pretty soon. It was dark and late though, so I rejected my idea of going to the guild. The minute we reached the station and the train came to a halt, Natsu sprang up like he'd never heard of motion sickness his entire life, and again carried on his regimen of transporting me around. He ran out of the train that was his nightmare and set me on my feet.

Then again, he placed his hand on my waist and motioned me forward. Natsu seemed a lot changed. I'd never seen Natsu this way. He was not usually like this especially after a train ride. It made him a little more reliable than he was before. I let him support me all the way home, and we didn't speak a word about my leg breaking episode.

It took us quite some time to reach my apartment. I entered it, and when I reached out to hang the house keys on the key holder, I remembered my celestial spirit keys.

"Natsu, do you have my keys?"  
"Yeah, here you go."

I was so happy to see them again. I lost them many times, and every time I summoned Aquarius after either dropping or losing the keys... well... she would make sure I learnt my lesson. I'd learnt it plenty much times, but Aquarius never felt it was enough for me. I still loved her, though.

I hung my coat on the wall and made my way to the steps and into my bedroom. I quickly washed my face in the adjacent bathroom. Then, I stripped and changed into my pyjamas.

I got into bed thinking all my cares and worries were over, and could sworn to have a good night's sleep, but a pair of onyx eyes bore their gaze (rather stare) into me. I sighed and got out of bed.


	3. Chapter 3

"What are you doing, Lucy?"  
"You wanted some food right? See, I'm starting to predict you."

"Yeah, I want food, but I'll help myself."

"That's what I'm worried about the most."

"Why are you worried?"

"Because this is you we are talking about."

"So what if it's me?"

"My provisions! Just don't go back by the window when you're done. Use the door."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Though my provisions are at stake! How could you, Lucy?"

"Talking to yourself? Nice hobby, Lucy." I ignored his comment. Then I went to sleep, and it was the most peaceful night I'd ever had. Except... Natsu was right in my face when I woke up. I kicked him in the face, screamed, shouted and relaxed on my own, but he was calm and sitting next to my bed.

"You didn't have to get that worked up, Lucy."

"I don't see people in my face when I get up every morning, so, of course it frightened me."

"It was my pleasure to grant you so rare a sight."

"I wasn't complementing you. Why are you still here? You were supposed to have left last night."

"Don't be so cold Lucy."

"Deal with it."

I reclined against the headboard of my bed and debated in my brain whether or not to go to the guild. I felt bad to tell Mira I couldn't go with them to the hot springs, but if I escaped the process of telling them that in person, it would cause panic. Mira knew the job I'd been on, and it would simply cause more trouble than it was worth if I didn't go to the guild.

I got out of my bed and stood up straight without much trouble. I stretched as I felt rigid after waking up. Then, my knees buckled and I lost balance. Natsu caught me just when there was a gap of a few millimetres between me and the ground.

"Lucy, you told me not to help you so many times, and, if I listened to you, you'd have a few broken noses, and a cracked skull."

"I have only one nose. Yeah, okay. Thanks for helping me out."

I got up and with some support, went to my closet. I pulled out a pair of thick trousers and a frilly peach shirt that went well with my trousers.

"Natsu, go out. I have to get changed."

"Humph. Whatever."

When I was sure he was nowhere near my room, I went to my bathroom and brushed my teeth. My joints felt sore. It was to be expected. I was covered in bruises. I sighed. There was nothing I could do to cover all them.

I washed my face. The water was icy, but it helped soothe the bruises on my face. After splashing the cold water on myself, I grabbed a towel and dried all the water from my face and neck.

I got to my room and changed into frilly shirt, but the trousers wouldn't go up my thigh. I chose an ankle length wrap-around skirt to go with my shirt, as it was the best I could do.

I took a look at myself in the mirror and did my hair. I never dressed in this way. I sighed and reached out to grab my coat. I was all done, and I grabbed one crutch so my other hand could be free.

I descended the stairs with comparatively less difficulty than the previous day. I called out to Natsu, but it seemed he wasn't there. I got my Celestial Spirit keys and house keys and got out into the cold surroundings. A growl issued from my stomach. I ignored it. I could eat something at the guild.

I took slow and careful steps to the guild even though the cold bit into me. No one would be there to help me if anything happened. And, there was no saying anything with my klutziness. I reached the guild safely, but I paused outside the doors and took a deep breath. A sea of worried wizards lay in wait for me. How could I even face it?

I pushed the door open slowly and slightly, so I wouldn't lose balance. Before I could enter, though, Gajeel came bursting out, and the next second, I was on the cold stony pavement.

"Oh, sorry Lucy. I didn't see you there." Said Gajeel in a genuine manner. I got up slowly, trying not to let him know about my leg, but my cover was blown because of the crutch that I bent down to pick up.

"What happened to you, Lucy? Did you break a leg or something?"

"Yeah..." I trailed off, not knowing what to say next. He somehow sensed my inability to say anything, and he went off somewhere in a hurry.

I entered the guild and the heat emanating from the heat lacrima made me already feel better a thousand times over. Levy hurried to me.

"Lu-chan! You're injured? What happened?"

"Err... I fell off the stairs?" it seemed like a question to myself. I couldn't let Levy and the others know as yet.

"But that's not what happened Lucy. Did you lose your memories along with breaking your leg? It seems completely possible." Said the one who was least wanted in the field of my vision at the time.

"Shut up Natsu. I really fell off the stairs."

"What happened, Natsu? I know you followed Lucy." Mira-san said as she joined the scene.

"I don't know why, but some fellow in the station started attacking her, and I couldn't prevent it in time. I've not asked her about what happened as yet."

Levy and Mira gasped. My lips lifted up on one side. It was a comical expression to look at. No one noticed my boiling anger towards Natsu behind the expression on my face.

"Lucy, you should just rest for a while. Why did you even come to the guild? You shouldn't strain yourself." Mira-san told me.

"You would be worried even more if I didn't come. We had plans to go to the hot springs together, right? I'm sorry that I can't make it. This is the least I can do."

"It's fine, Lucy. You don't need to push yourself. We all understand. And don't worry about the hot springs. Well all go together when you're fine. We can put our plans on hold for now. It's more important that you recover."

"Oh! No, no, Mira-san. I'm sorry. Don't cancel the plans just for my sake. I wish I hadn't gone on the job. Then none of this would have happened. It's my entire mistake."

"It isn't your mistake Lucy. We all really feel that way. We wouldn't go without you."

"Mira-san..."

"It's okay Lucy. We don't feel bad at all."

"Go to the hot springs Mira-san. I'll feel happier that way. Do it for my sake. Please..." I trailed off.

"Okay, Lucy, as you wish. Well go to the hot springs."

"That's it, Mira-san. I'm so happy." And I made a satisfied express which made Levy-chan and Mira-san also smile.

"Lucy, you still haven't told us what happened there. What was that guy's problem?" Natsu suddenly said from behind me.

I remembered Emily. She told me to forget her real name, which meant she didn't want me to tell anyone about it either.

"Mira-san, I'm feeling a little tired. I'll sit down somewhere."

"Yes, Lucy. We'll help you."

Ugh. I felt so helpless. And I couldn't do anything about it. I flushed hard till my face was redder than a tomato (it was because of the embarrassment).

"Lucy, did you eat anything this morning?"

"Come to think of it, I haven't, Mira-san."

"I'll go get you something."

"O-okay."

Mira-san was back soon with a plate full of delicious stuff.

"Tell us what happened after you finish eating, Lu-chan." Levy smiled so I felt completely at ease.

Good then, I would have some time to think. A russet hand grabbed some of the food off my plate just when I started eating.

"Natsu!"

"Thanks a lot, Lucy."

I sighed. There was no helping him. I ate soon so I didn't keep my audience waiting. I was prepared with what I had to say.

"Mira-san, Levy-chan, on my job, well, I had to escort a girl Emily. Well, her real name was actually Caroline Lee, but she told me not to let anyone know it was that.

"Anyway, she said something about our families not being on good terms, but also that I had to decide whether or not I should trust her. She told me... she told me... Fairy Tail is in danger. She said she could prevent it, but needed my help for that. She said she'd tell me everything I needed to know, she even told me where she lived.

"When I got off the train to buy return tickets, some guy came and asked me where Emily was. I said I didn't know. So, he said he saw her with me. I told him then that I wouldn't tell him even if I knew where she was.

"Before I could do anything, he stole my keys and I ended up in this state."

I exhaled when I was done, and I was actually thankful to Natsu after that because I felt a lot lighter. Like a huge load was lifted off my chest.

"Looks like quite an experience, Lu-chan." Levy-chan sympathised. "Better you go home and rest."

"Yeah, Levy-chan. I'll see you then."

"What are you saying, Lu-chan? I'm coming to drop you off."

"You don't have to. I'll go on my own."

"If you say so."

"Bye, everyone."

I didn't notice, but all the guild members had surrounded me during our conversation. I smiled at them, and made my way out. Now everyone knew what happened. I walked out of the guild into the cold while feeling the gaze of so many people on my back.

I reached my apartment pretty soon. I was getting better at using my crutches. I locked up after myself and went directly to my bathroom. I got the tub ready for my bath, and wrapped my cast in plastic. I couldn't have it getting wet.

I got into the water. It felt better than heaven (not that I'd been there, but the water felt very good).

I relaxed to the highest degree as the water made me forget all my pain. I thought of Emily. What could be a danger to Fairy Tail? She seemed serious, like it was going to be the end of the world. Well, _she_ didn't know Fairy Tail. We were stronger than we'd usually be if we had to protect our friend. I consoled myself about that. We had nothing to worry about.

Only a few things bothered me. Firstly, she said her name out loud in the station, but told me not to tell anyone what it was, well... at least indirectly. Then, the man attacking me because I wouldn't tell him where she went.

Thirdly, if our families were not on good terms, why did she tell me to be wary about some unlikely danger to Fairy Tail? And finally, she could have come directly to the guild to warn us of the danger. How could she be so sure that only a Fairy Tail member would do her job request? It all seemed too strange. The pieces didn't seem to fit in properly. Unless there were some missing pieces.

It was already a good two hours that I'd been in the tub, so I got out and wrapped myself in a towel.

I pulled out a set of loose pants that would fit me with my cast on. I put on a loose shirt too. I looked at the incomplete novel that lay on my desk and went to write. It was quite a day for me, even I didn't do anything much. After writing for a very long time, I went sown to eat some dinner and crash into bed.

There was some soup remaining from the previous morning that I heated up and drank. I checked the bolts of the main door before I could retire for the night. I switched off the lights after me one by one and made my way to the cozy bed that awaited me.

Until I saw that pink hair set against russet skin that stuck out of my blanket. "NATSU! GET OUT OF MY BED. Why are you always in my house? I want some alone time for a change." And I sat on the floor, shaking Natsu vigorously, trying to wake him up. "Natsu... NATSU! Get up! I want to sleep."

I gave up after all my remaining energy was drained from me. I just put my head on my pillow and closed my eyes.

"Are you done already, Lucy? Here, you can have your bed."

"You listened the entire time? Natsu, you trouble me to no end." I dint have anything in me to even get angry with him. I just sat in my place, without moving or saying anything, with my head still on my pillow. Natsu was already off my bed.

"Aren't you getting onto your bed Lucy? Okay, I get it." And he swooped me up and placed me on the bed in a flash.

"Goodnight, Lucy."

"Hmm." And in hardly a few seconds, I was having sweet dreams.

The next few days were boring. I stayed at home the entire time doing either some work around, writing, or sleeping, and oh, of course, showering. I was bugged a lot by Natsu who came and visited me a few times a day. Wendy came too, mostly to use her healing magic on me. Levy-chan was out on a job, so I didn't see her around.

Cana came around the previous night along with Misha and Erza. According to what I'd heard, Misha kept a really low profile in the guild, especially for a newcomer. Though, that didn't keep her from making friends, and even rivals, for that matter. She got along pretty well with everyone. Everyone... except... Erza.

Erza and Misha seemed to just not get along. So, it was surprising that they came along with each other. Of course, there was Cana with them, but still...

It wouldn't be shocking if the both of them had a showdown one of these days. I would bet on Erza, and many others would too, but we knew nothing of Misha's fighting capability, or even how smart she was in battle.

Misha had not yet gone on a job. She just spent her time at the guild socialising. Mira-san had asked her if she wanted to go on a job soon. Misha said she wanted to do her first job teaming up with me as I was the one who _helped_ her join Fairy Tail, or at least in her opinion.

Luckily, I was all healed up and I had no need for crutches or a cast. My elbow was fine too, only, there was a scar. It would go after some time.

I headed out to the guild wearing a pair of warm jeans that weren't tight and a flannel shirt. My breakfast wasn't anything too great, but neither was it anything shabby. I picked up my book, which was complete, and then grabbed my coat and headed out. Levy would be back. I was so excited to hear what she'd have to say.

Even though the cold was unbearable, it felt good against my face when I walked faster. Must have been because I was all fired up and rearing to go, especially after staying at home a few days. Crap! I sounded like Natsu! What did I mean by being 'fired up'? I shook my head hoping to get the thought out of my head, but it led to no avail. I reached the guild in hardly any time and Levy-chan came rushing toward me when she saw the guild doors swing open. We hugged each other tight.

"I missed you Lu-chan."

"Same here, Levy-chan. I completed another book. Will you come with me to get it published?"

"Of course, Lu-chan. Can I read it now?"

"It's all yours."

Then she pulled me over to the table she was sitting at before I came to the guild. I handed her the completed book, and she immediately poured herself over it.

"This is so good, Lu-chan... I wish I could write like you."

"I'll be the first one to read it." I grinned.

"Hey, I didn't even start writing, and I don't plan on doing so."

"Why? You excited me for a moment there."

"I don't even know what to write about."

"I'll give you an idea. How about... Gajeel?"

"Lu-chan!" she blushed.

"Just joking about that. How about a world without magic?"

We went on and on, with me suggesting ideas, and Levy either rejecting or thinking about them a lot. We had a lot of laughter when our topics changed from one interesting thing to another. Without our realisation, it switched to boys.

"Lu-chan, have you ever liked any boys?"

"No, Levy-chan. I wish there was someone I liked. Well, at least there is someone I know that likes boys."

"And who might that be, Lu-chan? Cana?"

"You, of course, Levy-chan."

"Okay, okay, getting back to the topic. Is there anyone you would at least want to like?"

"I... don't think so."

Just then Lisanna came by. Oh! What a life-saver she was!

"Hey, what were you talking about? I want to join too." Lisanna said with two curious eyes that I found hilarious.

"We were talking about boys we like. Lu-chan here says she doesn't know if she likes anyone."

"Why is that, Lucy? We all have people we like." Lisanna said matter-of-factly, taking a seat next to us.

"I really don't know about that Lisanna. I love everyone in the guild."

"That even we do, Lu-chan. But there has to be someone you like or care about more than others."

"Sorry, I can't think of anyone. I just know Levy likes Gajeel. But I don't know about you. I'd _rather_ hear of yours than think of mine."

"I can't say if it is just a crush or whether it's the real deal, so I'd like it if you and Levy kept it a secret. Do you promise?"

We nodded. Then she proceeded.

"I think I like... I think I like... Oh! I'm too ashamed to say it." And she covered her face in her hands.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of Lisanna. We'll support you no matter what."

"I know that. Okay. Here goes. I like Eve."

"Eve?" Levy and I chorused.

"Eve, from Blue Pegasus."

"Oh! That Eve. He is a nice person. We've fought alongside him and Ren and Hibiki against Oracion Seis. And, yeah... Ichiya was there too."

"I just like Eve so much, Lucy, Levy."

"We understand, Lisanna-san. But does he like you back?"

"I guess so. I know! I'll ask him sometime." Levy and I just nodded and smiled convincingly at Lisanna.

"Okay, now it's your turn Lucy." I grimaced at the expression they made. I wasn't yet free from their hungry curiosity stomachs.

"I told you I don't know if I like anybody."

"How about Natsu?" suggested Levy.

"No... Definitely not. He never gives me any personal space. But he does get on my nerves at times." I looked up at them. "I consider him just a friend, and an annoying one at that."

They both giggled. "Lucy, think about it. All your time together. Doesn't it at least make you happy?"

"It does. He does scare me half the time though."

"Lu-chan... he always comes to your rescue when you're in a pinch. He's always there for you. You can count on him anytime."

"That's all true. I don't deny it. I can't, in fact. I owe him more than I can ever repay. But I'm just so annoyed with him barging into my house all the time. It's become even more frequent of late."

"We all have our time Lu-chan. But he's always giving you company."

"Not to mention giving you a _lot_ of personal space."

We laughed at Lisanna's sarcasm. Maybe there was some truth in their words after all. Before we realised, it was already evening.

"Levy-chan, shall we go to get the book published tomorrow?"

"Sure, Lu-chan."

"Bye, Levy-chan, Lisanna. I'm tired. I'll go crash."

"Bye Lu-chan. Goodnight."

"Bye Lucy. Sweet dreams."

"Bye, goodnight."

And I exited the guild with my coat fastened tight around me. I walked home casually. Of course, it would get dark soon, but I was somehow not motivated to hurry.

I went straight to my bath when I reached home. The water was just right. I stepped in and remembered Lisanna and Levy telling me Natsu was the one for me.

I did feel for Natsu, but not in a romantic way. I thought of him as a friend. That's what he was to me. I felt ashamed to even think of a future with Natsu and me. It somehow didn't fit. I shrugged the thought off for the moment.

Natsu hadn't bothered me the entire day. It was odd by his standards. Maybe Natsu finally had some sense kicked into him. I chuckled at the thought.

The back of my mind was very unsettled these days. It was because of Emily. I had to meet her soon. I felt like I had to trust her. It was my instinct ordering me to do so.

Tomorrow would be a good day to go see her. I'd somehow have to escape Levy after the publishers' and go to meet her. Levy or anyone else for that matter wouldn't let me go, especially after my leg-breaking episode.

I had to go soon, because I wanted to prevent the 'danger' Emily warned me of. I got out of my shower, and changed into my pyjamas. After that, I just landed on my soft bed. Everything that had to be thought of could be worried about later. I sighed. It would be a long day tomorrow.

I'd have to leave early to first go to the publishers' and then to Emily. I couldn't tell anyone about the latter. Making up an excuse for me to escape Levy would be the biggest hurdle. The next problem would be getting back before the day ended.

The journey would be long, so I'd have to wrap soon at the publishers' and even at Emily's. I knew I could rest well then, when all strategies started popping up in my head. All of them were ridiculous, as I was half-asleep, but there was no fighting my over-imaginative mind, especially at night. I gave up, and let sleep take over me when it would.

"Levy-chan, thanks for coming with me today." I said as we came out of the publishers'.

"No problem, Lu-chan. I am so happy that everything went well."

"Yeah, Levy-chan... my second book!" I exclaimed, gleaming with joy.

"Congrats, Lu-chan. Now come, let's go."

"I can't, Levy-chan. I have to go somewhere else."

"Where, Lu-chan? I can come too."

"I have a date, Levy-chan." I said, trying to blush and make it sound real.

"With whom? Lu-chan... I'm so happy for you! Tell me who."

This was what I was afraid of. I instantly came up with a name.

"Uh... A-Alex." I stuttered.

"Is he someone from town?"

"I think so... I just met him yesterday, so I don't know anything about him."

"Oh! All the best on your date, Lu-chan!"

"Thanks, Levy-chan." And I waved to her. I felt guilty for lying, but that was the only method I could use to get away. It couldn't do any harm anyway.

I got into the train soon and waited for it to leave the station. The journey was long, but I somehow passed my time reading a novel Levy lent me and looking out of the window for the rest of the time.

I was wary when I got off the station. I didn't want a repeat of another horrible episode. It didn't take me very long to find the mango groves. The house was a few hundred feet into the groves.

It was a small cottage. It looked cute on the outside with the tiled roof and the small latticed windows. It seemed like a cottage come straight out of a fairytale.

I knocked on the door. The doorknob turned, revealing the orange haired Emily. "Emily-chan! So nice to see you. I came as you told me. I have a lot of questions for you. May I come in?"

"Yes, Lucy-san. I was waiting for you. What were you doing all these days/ Anyways, come in first."

I entered and she closed the door behind me. She began chanting spells. I let her continue without questioning the purpose. When she was done, she motioned me to her drawing room. It was a beautiful room.

Paintings hung on the wall and sofas surrounded a fireplace. The carpet spread all over the wooden floor, and there were a few pieces of furniture that lined the walls.

I seated myself in a single seater. Emily sat opposite me. "Lucy-san... You said you wanted to ask me some things."

"Yeah, well... first, why did you tell me fairytail was in danger if our families weren't on good terms?"

"I love all of you from fairy tail. It transcends any inter-family disputes for me."

"Oh. You could have come directly to our guild though..."

"I couldn't. There are a few complications." there was a moment of awkward silence.

"I'll tell you _everything_ I can, so don't break your head about it until I finish.

"See, there are some guilds that are neither official, nor dark. Well this guild is one of them- Elastic Fare. Be careful if you see a guildmark that resembles a thundercloud. You need to cover your guildmark to be on the safer side. It'll be dangerous if you are found by their members.

"They are out to attack all the top guilds. So, they want to start with fairy tail. You are strong, but they use cruel tactics to win. Please be careful."

I processed the information she gave me. Now some of the pieces fit.

"But why was someone after you?"

"Did someone come after me? Oh no! They already found me out! Lucy-san, did you meet someone like that?"

"Yeah. He attacked me because I didn't tell him where you were. That's why I didn't come to meet you until now."

"I'm sorry Lucy-san."

"Don't be. It's fine." And I smiled wide enough to convince her.

"Lucy-san... one more thing... beware of '...'. she is very dangerous, though it may not seem so at first." I gasped at the name she mentioned.

"How can 'she' be dangerous?"

"Just be careful. I don't know what she can do. But he is as strong as the ten wizard saints." I gulped. "Okay." I had to be careful around her.

I looked at the grandfather clock that hung on a wall opposite us. It was late. I had to get home soon. "Emily-chan, why did you say your name out loud in the station if you didn't want anyone to know it was you?"

"I forgot about the seriousness of the matter at that time." And made an apologetic face. It seemed too genuine. Of course, everyone made mistakes. I let it go. I sighed and smiled at her.

"Emily-chan, thank you for telling me everything. I need to go now. People will start worrying back at my guild.

"Oh... I wish you could've stayed longer. Anyways, bye for now, Lucy-san. Be careful."

"Yeah, bye, Emily-chan. You be careful too."

We waved at each other till the cottage was out of sight. The weather was pleasant here, unlike Magnolia. I took fast but sure steps to the station.

The train ride was okay, but I was tired after it. I got off the train and reached home with Plue accompanying me. It had been a long time since I'd summoned him.

I hung my coat and locked my door the minute I entered. I set my purse on the desk in my bedroom and stripped before entering my bathroom. I got into the water and let out a sigh. It was so warm that it made me feel like there was no such thing as 'cold weather' in Magnolia. It was strange though. Only Magnolia had this horrible weather. Other places had a nice sunny weather. But before I get into thought about that matter, I thought of my warm bath. I shouldn't worry too much, especially when I'm in my warm bath.

Plue sat at the edge of my bathtub, moving his legs around in the bath water. I kept talking weird stuff to him, while he just replied with a "Punn... ppunn... puuunnn..."

After a whole two hours of sitting in the bathtub, I got up, rinsed myself and wrapped myself up in a towel. I changed into a pair of pink and black pyjamas. I plopped onto my bed, and rested my chin on my arms, and shook my legs that dangled off the bed. Plue was near me, helping himself to a candy. I stared into the wall and went deep into thought. I pulled Plue close to me subconsciously, and fell asleep without even turning off the lights.

I woke up the next morning, hugging a pillow. The sun rays peeping through the curtains blinded me. I felt warm in spite of not having covered myself before sleeping. Warm... i got up and sat on my bed leaning against the headboard. All my sleepiness and grogginess began to left me the minute I drew the curtains to welcome the sun's rays into my room further. I opened the latch on the window and opened it. When I swung it open, a gust of icy wind hit my, chilling me down to the spine. At the same time, the rays from the sun heated my hands that rested on the window sill. So the weather was still bad. I closed the window and got off my bed.

I felt rested after the previous few days, and also more lively. I stretched my arms to release my stiff shoulders. I walked to the desk that was overflowing with so much of my stuff; my clothes, mostly.

The heat was mysterious, though familiar. It was concentrated around my desk. I looked around for the source of warmth and my eyes landed on the heat lacrima.

I was then thankful for buying it. Oh! How comfortable my night was because of that little source of heat.

I skipped to my bathroom for a quick shower. I was in a good mood today, after my long days of grumpiness. The water danced off my skin, washing off all the dirt and sleepiness that managed to trickle its way back to my system. I lifted my head up to face the shower with closed eyes and thought about my biggest ordeal when I would reach the guild.

I sat at a table with Erza. Erza savoured her strawberry cake and offered me some once in a while, but I kept declining it. I didn't want to anger her by eating her cake when I knew she really didn't want to give it to me, and just offered it for courtesy's sake. I felt safe with Erza now, and sat with her mostly for protection from a certain person.

Levy wasn't there, so Erza was the best protection I could get.

Erza was in her seventh heaven eating her strawberry cake while I was all tensed up. There was a person on par with our master (in terms of power) and apparently dangerous. It would be tough for me to win or even defend myself if I got into a fight with that person; and worse, if I was alone.

I sat glued to my seat, eyeing the woman every chance I got. I slumped carefree in my seat when nothing happened for a long time, and she didn't approach me. She was soon busy with her own stuff, and that relieved me further.

I left Erza to get myself a milkshake at the counter. Mira-san smiled at me and offered the drink almost immediately. I sipped on it slowly, letting the sweetness soak into me. I didn't expect my nightmare (of that person as powerful as the ten wizard saints coming near me) to come true. It seemed almost impossible that such a thing could happen now.

But I jumped in my seat and yelped when an unexpected voice came from behind me, disturbing my thoughts. "Hi Lucy-san. Can we go on a job together?""S-sure Misha. Why don't you pick a job out? I'll just go call Natsu." She turned to go, but when I uttered Natsu's name, she faced me and frowned.

"Lucy-san, I want as less help as possible. So let's just go together. I want to do my first job properly, that is on my own, maybe with a little occasional help from someone else..."

"That's no problem. Natsu will just accompany us. He won't help us too much. I won't let him."

"Okay Lucy-san." And she spun around toward the request board. I let out a deep breath and got up to call Natsu. I looked around for him, but he wasn't to be seen. Funny. The last time I saw him, he was fighting with Gray.

The flamebrain versus the Ice princess. One endless fight where both opponents were evenly matched. I didn't know who would win. Both of them were equally capable of winning. I'd personally vote for Gray. Natsu had been irritating me lately, and I didn't think there was anyone who could give him a proper payback, other than Gray. I smiled to myself just imagining it.

To interrupt my little reverie, a warm heavy thing landed on me with great force, pinning me to the ground and pushing the breath out of my lungs. My head banged again the floor, making me see stars.

I tried to sit up and push the heavy thing off me, but it was a person. He got up on his own, placing his left palm on my stomach and thrusting it to help himself get up. I felt my breath leave my lungs again. I screamed. Oh... Natsu was _so_ dead now.

"Oh, sorry Lucy. I didn't see you there."

He didn't see the dark aura surrounding me or the expression in my eyes which my hair covered. He only focused on trying to counterattack Gray. The first step was about to be taken towards Gray, when I stood in front of him, knocked him with a punch on top of his head, and kicked him in the gut.

"What was that for, Lucy...?" he said, making a pouty face. Anger blinded me, but when he made that face, he did look cute. He had such a childish face already, and it just amplified with the expression he had on his face. I melted at seeing that, but I still retained a facade to show him that I was mad at him. I glared at him and stormed off towards the request board, not wanting him to see my change of expression.

I guess I wasn't paying attention, because I banged into Misha. It was the second time I did that. The previous time was when we first met. She still felt like a pole though, and there was an aura about her that made me feel uncomfortable.

I instantly took a few steps backward. "Sorry Misha. I didn't see where I was going."

"Oh, no problem Lucy-san. Well, here, I got a job that we can do. What do you say?"

"Hmm." I nodded."We'll have to get packing soon." She agreed to it. I left the guild dragging Natsu by his scarf after waving bye to Mira-san and the others.

I let him go after we walked a little distance. It seemed like he was enjoying it. I got down to his level and shook his shoulders.

"Get up, you idiot. Go get packing."

He sighed and sat up. "I was enjoying that." Annoyance filled my eyes when he said that. I got up and walked towards my apartment. Though his footsteps were almost inaudible, I knew he was tailing me. I turned back without warning, to face him, and he banged into me. A blush made its way to my cheeks.

"Why did you stop, Lucy?"

"Why are you following me Natsu?" I said, imitating his tone of voice.

"I don't want to pack anything. So I thought I'd follow you."

"Don't."

Then his expression became serious. Oh, did I say something wrong? Even if I did, I didn't have such an intention. The idea immediately dissipated into nothingness when I saw his eyes darting around while I just had a confused expression on my face. Suddenly, he caught my arm and pulled me fast to my apartment. I didn't understand what was going on. Natsu seemed busy thinking. This was the second time I'd seen him this way.

Somehow, over the past few weeks, he was acting strange with me. He was still goofy, but also a little more protective of me, or so I felt.

Even on my last disastrous job, which was _supposed_ to be my job, he was behaving a little off. His motion sickness left him immediately when the train stopped at Magnolia on our return.

He was different, that's all I could tell. But I couldn't say what was wrong. I could find the reason behind his current behaviour. I had to find out.

I came back to the present when I almost tripped on a stone. Luckily, Natsu was till holding my arm, so it prevented me from falling.

"Stop daydreaming Lucy."

I was shocked. He didn't talk to me that way usually. He must've been really tense. I just nodded, but before I could ask him what was going on, he told me himself, as if reading my mind.

"It's those guys from before. They smell similar to that fellow that attacked you the other day." I felt guilt and sadness in his voice which was confirmed with his next sentence. "And I couldn't prevent it." He mumbled. This new side to Natsu was odd.

I replied in the best way I could. "You prevented it, or I'd be a goner. Don't blame yourself for something that isn't your mistake. It's my fault for being weak."

"YOU'RE NOT WEAK!" he snapped. I was shocked at his reaction and decided not to say anything. He needed the silence for a while.

When we were in view of my apartment, I put my hand in the pocket of my coat. I got my house keys out to open the door, as Natsu seemed to be in a hurry.

He tensed up even more when we reached the apartment. He yanked me towards him and snaked his arms around me. The very next moment, he jumped high and pushed me through my window, which he opened in an instant. He got in after me and locked it.

I was still in a state of shock. What was he trying? I got off my bed flushed, because of my embarrassing position and went to sit down on the couch.

"Explain yourself." I said with my arms crossed and one leg on top of my other knee. "Why are you acting so strange?"

"I'm not strange. It was the same magic power that I sensed a few days ago that night when you found me on the street to be precise."

"I get it... about that magic power. I'm asking you why _you_ seem different." He just stood for a moment while I looked at him intently, waiting for a response.

I don't know where at the back of my mind, something that kept troubling me, but which I couldn't put a finger on; it came back to my memory, and my curiosity crossed its threshold, so I blurted out "You were telling me on our last job... what happened to Happy?"

He was less hesitant to answer me this, but there was still something holding him back. "Well?" I asked. He sighed and sat down next to me. I flinched at the close proximity. He didn't seem to notice it, though.

I couldn't think of a reason as to why I flinched, but it just happened. I shrugged it off for the moment. I looked at Natsu. Grief was evident in his eyes. "Happy was kidnapped by those guys, Lucy." He simply stated.

My shock went further. How was he not running around creating a ruckus. Something was wrong with Natsu. I stood up and stared at him with wide unbelieving eyes. He didn't even look up. I stood in front of him and shook his shoulders.

"Are you really Natsu?" I placed my palm on his forehead and continued talking, not giving him a chance to speak. "You don't have a fever. Are you someone else in disguise? I don't believe you. No wonder you were acting strange these past few days."

He just lifted his eyes and glared at me. Fright washed over me. That was the look he usually gave his opponents when he was angry. It sure was a terrifying expression. He'd never been angry with me before. This was a first. I took my hands off him and tried to go back, but he immediately gripped on my hand, pulling me closer to him.

More fear came over me. There was no telling what an angry Natsu could do. My heart thumped loudly against my ribcage and all the blood left my cheeks. He forced me to sit back down next to him. There was no escaping, so I complied with him.

"I was not done Lucy." He said with a bit of anger and a lot of sadness mixed in his voice.

"I'm sorry if I angered you Natsu." I said, hoping to redeem myself. I felt too guilty about making him feel bad.

"You didn't anger me. You couldn't, no matter what you did." Was I hearing him right? "I was just angry at myself because I could do nothing to prevent Happy from getting kidnapped. And you're right. I am different. I don't want anything to happen to any of my other friends. I'm just trying to get my mind off Happy."

"Why didn't you at least tell us before?"

"They threatened me."

"WHAT!"

"Yeah they did."

"What did they say?"

"That if I went to take Happy back, they'd harm the one person dearest to me."

"Wouldn't that be Happy? And they've already harmed him."

He nodded hesitantly, like he was hiding something, but I didn't push him any further.

"Natsu, are you hungry?" I said, trying to lighten up the mood. Fortunately, it worked. He shot up and looked at me with wide gleaming and pleading puppy eyes, excitement scribbled all over his face. I giggled and went to the kitchen to check the ingredients I had.

I made a marinara and put the pasta in it. Once it was done, I plated it, putting double the quantity on Natsu's plate. He did eat like that anyways.

It seemed like Natsu's mind had been taken off from the previous predicament.

If Happy was kidnapped by someone, there must have been a reason. Was there something about Happy, that he was hiding or was someone else their target? The latter seemed more probable. The only question was, who could it be?

I chewed on my pasta slowly, giving thought to every possible random theory that flickered through my brain. There was already what Emily told me, and now what Natsu did. There was a missing link that didn't allow me to connect the facts. Someone that was so prominent that that person could change the tides of any event.

It could be the master, or Gildarts, Laxus, Erza even. If they wanted to harm one of them, it made sense, they were the strongest members, but it didn't make sense to kidnap Happy because Happy was Natsu's good friend. The person dearest to Natsu had to be Happy. I couldn't think of anyone else.

If they wanted to threaten the master, it would work, but he was not the 'dearest' person to Natsu. It was just that one word which sent all my theories down the drain.

If they wanted Gildarts, all they'd have to do was touch Cana. They could attack any one of us if they ever wanted to threaten Erza, or the master.

'Dearest' in Natsu's case would be someone from his family. Well, the whole guild was his family. Then who was this one special person?

As far as I knew, Natsu didn't have a love interest. He was just a crazy fun-loving maniac that everyone adored. Well, except for Gray. They were good buddies, but never 'adored' each other. Happy was the only one I could think of, no matter which way I thought (well, not in the love interest way, Natsu wasn't romantic).

I sighed and gobbled up the rest of my food which had turned cold. My brain was unfortunately, not in its active mode.

"I don't sense their presence nearby anymore." Natsu said which brought me back from my daze.

"Natsu, I think..." then I stopped, wondering if I should bring up that serious topic once again.

"What?"

"I think we should go and rescue Happy." I mumbled against my decision because I couldn't think of anything to replace it.

"No." He asserted. He didn't raise his voice, but there was sternness in it.

"I miss Happy." At least that had to make him want to go and rescue Happy.

"It's still a 'no'."

I was a little taken aback from his attitude, but didn't show it. He was acting so bossy. What was his problem? I shook off my anger somehow, and asked him something else.

"Who is this person they're after?"

He didn't answer. He just shrugged and turned his head down so he was looking at the table.

"Answer me Natsu!"

"It's better you don't know."

"I don't care if it's better for me or not. I just want to know."

"I'm not sure too. So don't worry yourself. I already have a plan in action to rescue Happy." I gaped. Was this really the Natsu I knew?

"You don't have a fever, you seem completely sober. Am I dreaming or sick or what?" I asked myself. Unfortunately, I said it out loud, so Natsu heard it. He got up and placed his wide, warm palm on my forehead.

"You're fine, Lucy." I was shocked yet again at his concern. I could never get used to it. He took his hand off my forehead and laughed "You're fine, but not that expression of yours."

I noticed then that I was still gaping at him. I hid my face in embarrassment and collected the dishes to wash them.


	4. Chapter 4

I sat in the train opposite Misha. Natsu sat next to me, and wouldn't stop muttering about how he was going to suffer when the train started. I simply ignored him and stared out of the window.

It seemed a pleasant evening enough. Well, not the weather, it was still as cold as ever. The scenery made me feel calm. The sun setting behind the cloudless orange sky, all the birds flying back to the nests. It all made me feel peaceful, except for that annoying pinkette calling me every ten seconds.

"Lucy... Lucy... Lucy..."

"What is it?" I snapped.

"I want to sleep. Then I won't feel motion sick."

"Then sleep. Why are you telling me that anyways?" I turned away to face the window. Then I felt my left shoulder heavy. Natsu was sleeping on my shoulder! I wanted to push him off, but he looked so harmless and peaceful in his sleep, that I took pity on him and let him sleep.

I turned back to face the window, but his spiky hair tickled my bare neck. I wriggled a little because of that, but didn't laugh.

Misha looked at us and started laughing. I bowed my head in embarrassment. Surely she would tell Mira. And I knew what would happen next.

"You two look good together." She mocked.

"We do not." I flushed harder.

She just shrugged and turned away. I laid my head against the headrest and looked out at the passing field. Natsu's calm and rhythmic breathing sounded in my ear. It made feel drowsy too. I closed my eyes and drifted off to dream land.

The sound of a clicking camera woke me up. I opened my eyes slowly. My left cheek was pressed against the top of Natsu's head. It felt comfortable and welcoming. The sakura pink made me feel peaceful along with his rhythmic breathing. His smell was musky that made it even better. It was almost like I wanted to be there forever.

I came back to the present. Misha just clicked a picture of us. I raised my head against my decision.

"Misha, please delete that."

"No, Lucy-san. This will please Mira-san."

"I'm begging you. Please. Levy-chan will tease me too." I went on rambling, but it didn't seem like she was paying attention.

My drowsiness took over me again, so I placed my face back on Natsu's head and closed my eyes.

Before I could go to sleep though, Natsu mumbled softly, but enough for me to hear. "Lu-cy..." I blushed hard. What was he saying? My face was a red as a tomato. "Lu-cy..." he murmured again. I was shocked at it. I opened my right eye only to see Misha, and it didn't seem like she heard what Natsu said. I sighed in relief in my mind, and Natsu said again.

"Fight me... Ice... princess..."

I smiled and closed my eyes once more. It must have just been a dream. "Lu-cy..." I blushed but still smiled, inhaling his scent. Then I felt his muscular arms wrap around me. I sat up with a jerk. What was he trying?

I shook him and try to pry his arms off me. "Natsu get off me." I pulled my hands out of his hug and tried to unclasp his hands around me. He just groaned and tightened his grip. I was blushing hard. My thoughts weren't coherent anymore.

Why was he behaving in this way? Ugh. I gave up after a few minutes of trying. My left side was warm enough to get me sweating. Whereas, on my right side, I felt a little cold. I rubbed my right arm with my left hand, hoping to warm it up. Because of my action, Natsu stirred. Oh, how wonderful. It served a dual purpose!

"Natsu, get off me." I said.

"But this is comfortable Lucy..."

"I don't care. Get your hands off me."

But he was already back to sleep, so I just a sighed. I'd have to wait till the train ride got over or till he woke up. I looked over at Misha hoping to talk to her, but was asleep too. I sighed and got a book out of my knapsack.

Without my realisation though, the train halted. We were at the next station. A few more stations and we'd arrive at our destination. I read the book intently, not bothered about my surroundings.

"What are you reading Lucy? " Natsu said suddenly, making me jump.

"Get off me, you idiot." I said blushing.

"No, Lucy."

"I said get off me Natsu."

"But I want to sleep more."

"You can sleep, but stop hugging me. My shoulder is paining."

"Oh, okay. Sorry, Lucy."

"It's okay." I turned and hid my face in my book. I was still blushing like crazy. I just hoped Natsu didn't see my face.

"What were you reading Lucy?"

"Try it."

"What is it about?"

"Read and find out for yourself." I said thrusting the book on his lap.

"You're so mean Lucy..." he grumbled.

Just then, the train pulled out of the station. I shot him a worried glance. I imagined that I'd either have to deal with him sleeping off the motion sickness or his nausea. I was shocked from what I saw. Natsu was going to be the death of me! He wasn't affected by the motion sickness this time. The book had successfully distracted him.

I gaped and stared at him, wide eyed with disbelief. I couldn't believe _Natsu_ was reading. Seriously though... Natsu? I looked out the window yet again. Natsu was showing me a totally different side of his these days. It was not like _him._ That was really creeping me out.

I felt sleepy after twenty minutes or so, so I leaned my head against the window frame and closed my eyes. I felt the cold breeze against my face. I shivered as it got progressively colder. I hadn't worn a very warm sweater because I expected good weather in the other towns. I let out a mental sigh, hoping for the weather to get warmer.

As if reading my thoughts, Natsu said, "Are you cold, Lucy?"

"Slightly." I didn't expect him to do anything about it.

"ROAR OF THE-" Oh no. Before I could anything though, he was almost blowing out the fire. I could only close my eyes and wait to be burned to a crisp. "FIRE DRAGON!"

An immediate cozy and pleasant warmth surrounded me. I'd think Natsu's flames would be hotter than those of a furnace. I slowly opened my eyes. Natsu's flames enveloped me, but I didn't burn (neither did my clothes). The temperature was just right.

The flames danced off me, sporting different colours, the most prominent being blue. They let off a wonderful hue that played on the upholstery and walls of the train. Natsu was already done with blowing out his fire, but the flames continued to blaze on and around me.

"How did you do that?" I asked. I had a smile on my face that was full of gratitude. He just chuckled and gave me his toothy grin which always made my heart race since recently.

My cheeks turned a deep shade of maroon. Why did I feel this way around Natsu? My cheeks started burning and my breath became ragged. These were no doubt the symptoms of love, especially _first_ love. Or was it just one-sided? Or even worse, just a crush? NO. NO. LUCY! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING. HE'S JUST YOUR FRIEND FOR MAVIS' SAKE!

I bowed my head so Natsu didn't notice, but with his inhuman hearing and sight, I was sure he knew. And as if an alarm buzzed off, he asked me, "Lucy, are you fine? You look... sick." He had a worried expression on his face.

"I'm fine." I lied.

"Are the flames too hot?"

"N-no. They're p-perfect." I stuttered.

"If you say so." He still had worry painted over his face. Curse myself. My system never coordinated with my mind. Why did I have to blush like crazy in front of him? Luckily, he was dense enough to not realise.

The flames around me died down, but I was still warm. I drifted off to sleep, not caring about anything else in the world for the time being. I was comfortable now. No cold to bother me. That was all that mattered.


	5. Chapter 5

A rocking sensation woke me up. I slowly opened my eyes. It was already dark, and would no doubt be cold from the looks of it, but I was warm and seemed completely unfazed by the weather. I saw Misha a little away from me. She seemed smug. I could make that out only from her expression.

I took in my surroundings, and then realised that I was being carried by someone; I was off the ground. Without moving head or neck, I looked up to see who it was. Though I did have a hunch.

And, boy was I right! It was Natsu. I blushed very hard, but stayed put. I wouldn't want to face an embarrassing situation. My head was on his shoulder so I could inhale his comforting and intoxicating scent with every breath of mine. I shook myself up in my mind and came back to my senses.

I couldn't go around behaving like a pervert! I closed my eyes and enjoyed the moment. A voice at the back of my mind, a voice I hadn't heard before made it embarrassing and said, 'Well, Lucy, it seems like you're falling for him.'

I blushed harder then 'No-no. It can't be. N-natsu's just my f-friend.' I said back to the voice, but in my mind. No one knew about the conflict inside me. 'Oh, really? Then you blushing every time he is near must be my imagination. Is it?'

Somehow, she reminded me of Mira-san. 'No it's not your imagination, but I don't know clearly about my feelings for Natsu. I don't want to spoil our friendship if I fall for him.'

'You're not going to fall for him.' She giggled. I looked at her, a little confused. She was just pairing us a second ago.

'You're already falling for him. No. Actually, you've already _fallen_ for him.'

'Impossible.'

'I'll be there every step of the way, Lucy. After all, I'm a part of you.'

'Part of me! How?'

'I turned up because you're feeling the emotion of 'love'. Not just any 'love'. _True_ love.'

I was speechless. Not that I didn't want to say anything, but I couldn't. I didn't even know if what she said was true, or if she was even _real_.

'See you around, Lucy.'

She left me there, flabbergasted. Was I really falling for him? He was my friend, for Mavis' sake. I did feel a little more self-conscious around him these past few days but I didn't know if it was because of _love_.

I am inexperienced, after all.

I came back to the present when being laid onto a cold park bench. Seeing Natsu's face up so close heated up my cheeks. I squeezed my eyes shut and shifted my gaze when I opened them next.

My eyelids fluttered. My cheeks were still not done with their business of embarrassing me.

"Finally awake, huh?"

"Y-yes. What time is it? Where are we?"

"We reached. The client lives close by. It's about eight-thirty now. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I did. Where's Misha?"

"She went around town. She said she had some business to do."

"What business?"

"Shopping."

My mouth o-ed in realisation. Natsu chuckled. Again, I blushed, but this time, it was slightly faint.

I thought I'd forgotten most of my problem by then, but it all came back. I remembered my conversation with Natsu about Happy.

"Natsu?"

"What?"

"Who is this 'dearest' person? The only one I could think of is Happy."

I turned to look at him. He seemed like he was hurt. Like someone stabbed him where it hurt the most. What I said shouldn't have hurt him, right? It was just a question. He could answer it. It was nothing that hard, in fact it wasn't hard at all. Or so I felt. I looked at him expectantly for his answer. When he didn't reply, I coughed to gain his attention.

"It's best if you don't know Lucy."

"Is it Igneel?" Igneel was a possibility. He'd seen a few dragons recently, so he may have had his hopes up to meet him, and thought that these people could harm Igneel.

"Probably."

"What do you mean 'probably'?" i said, imitating his manner of speaking.

"Please, Lucy. I don't want to talk about it." He sounded devastated and I didn't know what I could do about it.

"Take your time. I'll understand."

He gave me a soft but sad smile which I returned. He was acting strange. That was all I could say.

"Want to get something to eat, Natsu?" I said, which made his face light up immediately. I giggled internally. It was so easy to distract him. Well, I was starving too.

We passed by the restaurants on the wide busy and bustling streets. I pulled Natsu into one that seemed especially prominent.

As soon as the door opened, I stopped in my tracks. It looked like the same restaurant in my dream. Natsu noticed my expression, and he looked at me with concern. "What's wrong, Lucy?"

"N-nothing a-as yet. I just don't feel right about e-eating here."

"Okay, let's go someplace else."

I was about to exit, but I felt someone push us to a table. I heard Natsu growl in an undertone. Why was he growling? Surely something wasn't right about this place.

"Ma'am, what would you like to have this evening?"

Ugh. I was in this hopeless situation. There was no way I could get out of it now. I turned to Natsu for help. He had a blank expression planted on his face.

Oh! Curse him and his density! Can't he see I'm in need of help here? The waiter pulled my back to our current situation.

"We have noodles and-" blah blah blah.

"Natsu, what will you have?"

"A large steak."

"Okay. And you, ma'am?"

"One cola."

"Coming right up."

Natsu looked at me. I was fidgeting with cutlery, unsure if I could be cautious enough. Was the dream I had something to be concerned about, or was it just my imagination running wild?

I set the cutlery down and played with my fingers. Natsu just kept staring at me the whole time, which made me feel worse about the current situation. But maybe I was a bit on the paranoid side.

Our food came pretty soon. Well, mine was just a cold, but still. I cautiously and hesitantly took a sip out of it. It seemed fine. I gulped down the whole thing in one go. Natsu was already halfway through his food. I felt a little queasy, so I excused myself to take a little bathroom break. I felt a pair of eyes following me, which made me feel self-conscious.

I walked fast to the restrooms and hoped that I could get out of this restaurant as soon as possible. There was a haunting feeling stuck in my mind, that refused to leave me ever since I entered the restaurant.

I rinsed my face with water, but it didn't help. I rested my forehead against the tiled walls, hoping to get it cooled down.

I did have all the symptoms of fever after all. No wonder I wasn't feeling so good for the past half hour.

I turned to go back after a few minutes, but I felt a hand on my shoulder. I froze after spinning around to face the person. "Hello, sweetie. Hope you're having a good time. Because sure enough, fun-time is over. Rather, your 'time' in general is over.

I started at her with true horror in my eyes. I tried screaming out but it seemed like my throat was stuck, and even the rest of my body wouldn't move an inch. Oh! How unlucky that Natsu wasn't with me now. I was terrorised already, but she gave me an evil, wicked grin that sent shivers down my spine. I tried to move again, but to no avail. I was frozen to the spot. It was her. The one Emily warned me of. The one supposed to have strength comparable to the ten wizard saints. It was her- Misha!

She was supposed to have gone around the town, but here she was already. Cornering me. I knew it. She wasn't really going around town. She was plotting to endanger us. And I walked right into her trap. Of course she'd do something like this, but when Natsu wasn't around. She wouldn't dare if I were near him, because everyone knew Natsu. He would do basically anything, if it was to save his friends.

I heard weird sounds around me, and realised it was coming from me. I was hyperventilating. Mavis save me!

I took a step backwards with a lot a courage, but Misha just stood grinning wickedly at me. "I don't need to hide my true identity anymore."

Before I knew it, I was out cold.

I woke up in a sort of dark and dank room. I dangled from a rope that connected my wrists and a hook on the ceiling. I felt my mouth gagged with some cloth that smelled horrible, and my ankles were tied together, which gave me no room for escape.

I scanned the rest of the room. There were a few crates in a corner. Another few feet away from me, something else dangled from the ceiling, something small. I couldn't notice because of the unavailability of light, but I felt bad for the poor creature. I also saw a guard? He was in the corner of the room next to the door, holding a stick, and seemed to have dozed off. I tried wriggling out of ropes on my wrists, but the minute I did, I felt a sharp pang of pain and a warm sticky liquid ran down my arm from my bleeding wrist. I gave up on trying.

I thought of Natsu. Surely he would come to my rescue. He always has. I let my tears run down my cheeks. I had been angry with him for so long for always barging into my home.

I didn't mind that now. I'd let him do whatever he wanted to. I just needed to get out of this depressing place. All my feelings weighed down on me.

My anger towards these 'creatures' (they weren't people) who kidnapped innocent beings for who knows what reason. My sadness and helplessness in this depressing situation. My feelings for Natsu... maybe it was love. I missed him so badly.

Just then I heard some voices. The one that spoke was a male; he seemed familiar to someone I had met. But it was someone who brought fear to me, not comfort. It was deep and cold. "This young miss Heartfilia is good bait. Well, anyway we needed her out of the way for master to finish his job."

What were they saying? They needed me out of the way? For what? I wasn't even in their way. I didn't know their master even...

Another voice spoke; Misha's. It was menacing and cold. "Master can't finish off Fairy Tail if she's in the way. This is a way to finish her off and that S-" she was cut off by a door that opened.

"Master wants the girl dead." Said another male in a monotone.

"Oh! Yeah... she's mine to torture. I can't wait to see her scream and writhe in pain. Oh! How I love the tortured screams of the weak!"

I shivered and broke out in cold sweat. I didn't have my keys or my whip. There was nothing I could do to prevent it.

The lights turned on, blinding me. I squinted through the light, and saw Misha walking through towards me. I tried to put on a brave face, hoping that she would be intimidated be it, which obviously didn't happen.

"Oh... trying to face off with me, darling? How much did you hear? Everything? Then I'll have no choice but to torture you even more."

She pulled the cloth off my mouth making sure to leave scratch marks on my face from her long nails. She pulled out a knife and licked its edge. Gross. But the minute she did that, I felt more terrorised which showed on my face, even though I didn't know it.

"Ooh! Let me set up a camera. I love rewinding my tapes to see the people I tortured screaming and begging for death."

"I won't let you have your way."

"What do you mean?"  
"Your target is Fairy Tail. You will never win against our guild."

"Says who, inexperienced one? We already have our strings in place."

"You can't defeat us. Not Master, Gildarts, Laxus, Erza, Gray, Wendy, no one. And even if you 'do' manage to defeat them, you can never defeat Natsu."

"Young l-ove... Ooh!" she hooted. I just glared daggers at her.

"I'm speaking the truth. It's not biased."

"I didn't say you were lying. But we know how to lead him to misery."

I gulped. She continued. "Imagine him seeing his blue pet cat-" I turned to my left. Happy was hanging from the ceiling, unconscious... "-and the love of his life dying before his eyes." Me, the love of his life? Impossible, or rather, I'd never even thought of it before.

Did Natsu have feelings for me? I always ran away from the thought. He seemed too goofy and playful, almost like he couldn't be romantic. That's what I loved about him. I realised it now.

I hung my head low. I was sure of my feelings for him that slowly developed into a beautiful flower in me. Did he feel the same?

Then it dawned on me. He was being a little too overprotective and a little clingy the past few days. He also said many things that was ambiguous. I still couldn't make sense of it.

Misha brought me back to the present be slapping me across the cheek. I felt the stinging pain sink in through the tissues of my skin. I didn't whimper or wince at the pain. I just glared back at her. Thinking of him gave me courage. It made me feel like never giving up. He was my light in all the dark times. Even though he wasn't near now, I knew he'd want me to strive on and fight. There were only five words that came to my mind which I said out the loud, the same way Natsu would.

"I'm all fired up now."

"Oh! So am I. Ready for torture, Lucy Heartfilia?"

"I'm ready for you to see hell anytime. I'm sort of like the gatekeeper."

"Let's see who wins."

She ran her knife down my arm, the one that want yet stained with blood. She ran it down again, this time, with a little pressure. I could feel a shallow cut forming on my arm. I winced.

"You're all bark and no bite, eh?"

She ran the knife along my arm repeatedly, tracing the cut she made previously, till I screamed. Then she held me ankle and etched on it with the knife. I kept screaming. I was helpless now, but soon, when I would be free, I'd be able to do more harm to her.

She held my face with her left hand, pressing against my cheeks with her bony fingers.

"Don't mess with me, you scum."

"I'm not messing around, you are."

"Enough!" and she dug her knife through my shoulder. I screamed out due to the unbearable pain.

I tried to stare back at her again, but she just slapped me. She also did in a few harsh physical attacks.

My vision got blurry after a while, the pain catching up to me. I saw her raise a gun to me from my unclear double vision. "Play time's now over for me too, missy. Goodbye forever."

I closed my eyes. I didn't want to see it coming- my death. I heard the gunshot. But I felt no pain. I opened my eyes and could catch a glimpse of salmon pink. Natsu! He was finally here! A wave of comfort and relief washed over me, seeing my saviour in front of me, now my-

"You didn't keep your part of the deal." Huh? What deal?

"We never promised you, Salamander. You just announced it and walked out. We didn't agree to it."

"YOU FIEND! HOW DARE YOU!"

Natsu charged at Misha. It was a battle where Natsu overpowered Misha from the beginning. It took a long time though, and I felt my consciousness gradually slipping away. I felt warm hands grasp onto mine. The ropes loosened and I was placed on the ground while Natsu rescued Happy.

Natsu kneeled down next to me. "Lucy... are you okay? I'm sorry I arrived late. I searched around, but your scent was faint." I could detect sadness and regret in his voice. I placed my hand on his cheek. "It's fine Natsu. I'm okay. I'm just happy that you came." I croaked.

"Lucy, don't talk for now. I need to get you to safety." He placed Happy on top of me, and gently picked me up, bridal style. I laid my head on his shoulder. It was just so perfect whenever Natsu was around. He always knew what I needed and gave me just that.

We exited that room and Natsu tensed up almost immediately. I was about to ask him what was wrong, but his expression silenced me. He was angry. And by angry, I mean really _really_ angry.

He cussed under his breath, and took off at top speed. I couldn't understand what was going on. I just kept quiet. It wasn't the right time to bring up any sort of question.

He jumped out of an open window at the end of a long corridor. I held onto his shirt, hoping to brace for impact.

I heard him chuckle softly. "I wouldn't let you fall. You're already injured so badly."

It was my turn to smile. "I know."


	6. Chapter 6

The cotton dampened with antiseptic was lightly brushed against my open wounds, but I couldn't help wincing at the burning sensation that coursed throughout me whenever I felt the cotton against my skin.

"Lucy-san, all done! I've given you medicine for your fever, cleaned up your wounds, all that is remaining is to bandage you up."

"Thanks, Wendy." I yawned.

"You've been up for so long. See, it's already two am. Why don't you get some sleep?"

"I will when you do Wendy. Thanks."

"You're welcome Lucy-san." She paused for a while, bandaging the soles of my feet. "I probably shouldn't ask you." She mumbled, clearly not wanting to say it out loud.

"Ask me what?"

"What happened there."

"You're right. I'll tell you all about it later. It's been quite a day for me too."

"Goodnight Lucy-san." She walked out of the infirmary, evidently exhausted.

"Goodnight Wendy." And the door closed behind her, shutting away the light available outside.

I sighed and faced the ceiling with wide open eyes. Misha, huh? Emily warned me about her being as strong as the ten wizard saints, but Natsu defeated her easily, and I knew he wasn't as strong as the ten wizard saints. That was not possible. He was strong, yes, but not THAT strong.

What was that deal about? Natsu was furious about them not keeping their side of the deal. Was it connected to Natsu's 'dearest' person? Did they attack when he wasn't around? Cowardice. Who was it though? Was that person safe?

I began thinking so much about our time there that I didn't notice Natsu pull a stool next to my bed. He snapped his fingers in front of me, which brought me back to my senses. I sat up. "Oh, Natsu, I didn't see you come."

"Neither did I." He joked.

"Very funny." I rolled my eyes at him. "What deal did you talk to Misha about? Something that she didn't keep up."

"To not cause harm to-"

"Okay. Is that person safe?"

He gaped at me with a stunned expression, but regained his composure almost immediately. "From what I've heard and seen, yes."

"Oh. You met that person? Where is he?"

" _He's_ not here."

"Oh. Why?"

" _He_ was never in the infirmary in the first place."

"So he's safe."

"Yeah...?"

I rested my head against the headboard.

"Was Misha that strong?"

"How strong?"

"As strong as the master?"

"No. She wasn't even as strong as Gajeel."

"So it was all fake."

"What was?"

"The rumour that she was strong like the ten Wizard saints."

"Was there even such a rumour?"

"Emily told me."

"Oh... that girl, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Misha's with those guys, but she doesn't smell like them."

"What do you mean?"

"If she smelled like those other guys, I would have recognised her immediately. Those cheeky fellows..."

"Oh. Natsu, what happened before we left? Why didn't they come after us?"

"They will shortly."

"I'll- what about the job?"

"Seriously, Lucy. It was fake. How didn't you realise it before? I thought you were smart."

"Hey! I am smart."

"Yeah, yeah. I see that."

I scowled at him and turned away. He yawned loudly.

"Go to sleep Natsu."

He didn't reply. He was already fast asleep. Luckily, he was in the adjacent bed. The stool didn't seem like a friendly option.

"Goodnight Natsu."

I closed my eyes and pulled the blanket around me tighter hoping to get settled for the night. I heard the rustling of the leaves outside and felt a calm silence after the wind stopped blowing. My breathing became even and slow, which was my own lullaby. I felt my exhaustion, but it didn't hinder my going to sleep.

"Goodnight Luce." I was frozen, too shocked to even breathe. Luce? I had a nickname now? I loved it. Of course I would. It was _Natsu_ who called my by that nickname 'Luce'.

I didn't care anymore. I would love any name he called me by, as long as it was him. As long as it was _Natsu_. Because I was sure. Sure that-

A beautiful melody interrupted me. It had a soft placid tune to it. I couldn't tell if it was an instrument, or if someone sang it, but it was so enchanting, I couldn't help but go completely into it. It laid me to rest for the night, shutting off my over imaginative mind mysteriously.

I woke up the next morning feeling sore in my muscles and joints. That was to be expected. I was subjected to torture the previous night after all.

I tried to get off the bed, but when my feet touched the ground, I shot back up. No, it wasn't because the floor was icy. The floor was icy cold, but that was not what supported this jerky action. It was in fact because of the pain in the soles of my feet.

I pulled my feet one by one to see how bad the cuts were. I removed the bandages, careful not to tangle them up so I could put them back on.

When I looked at it first, it seemed like she just had just run her knife around, making lines in random directions, but when I looked closely, it seemed like a message.

'LIGHT V/S DARK.' It said.

I hastily checked my other foot.

'LUCY V/S LUCIUS.'

It was like a message that I had to crack. Light...

What could be related to light? Magic? But I was mentioned too. And I didn't use light or dark magic. In fact I wasn't sure of it. But... maybe... my Celestial magic would be light. That would also mean there was Dark Celestial magic. I'd never heard of that.

There was only one way to find out.  
_

I sat in the Archive searching through the Evolution, History and what-not of Celestial magic. There was nothing that mentioned any kind of 'dark' celestial magic. I searched through the books again, hoping to find at least a clue.

I lost my last shard of hope after looking through the books for the third time. I sighed in defeat and started keeping back all the books I had taken out.

"Didn't find anything useful?" Mira-san asked, carrying a pile of the books from my table.

"No Mira-san. There wasn't anything about it. And I haven't even heard of there being such magic."

"That's to be expected. There's another book you haven't tried." She said and pulled out a large dusty book from a small shelf in a corner of the archive.

"The Evolution of Dark Magic." She smiled, handing me the book. I took it from her, surprised that such a book even existed.

'This book contains detailed and brief explainations for different types of dark magic, many whose forms are unknown.

This book does not include magic used by Zeref which is greatly unknown to many, greatly because there hasn't been anyone who survived after witnessing his magic.

This book mainly aims at types of dark magic affinities and weaknesses.'

I turned to the contents page. There was nothing related to Celestial magic. I kept back the book in the shelf, when a booklet fell out of the book. Classic. I picked it up.

'MORE DARK MAGIC' it read.

I opened it to see the contents. It was all handwritten. I found the page to what I was looking for. 

CELESTIAL MAGIC

Celestial magic is a form of magic where the wizard makes a contract with celestial spirits and summon them according to need and wish.

There are two types of celestial magic, and both are governed by the same summoning rules. The two types of celestial magic are- light and dark.

LIGHT CELESTIAL MAGIC

Light celestial magic makes use of the contracts between the _main_ celestial spirit world and the human world.

The spirits that can be used are:-

1\. The spirits of the golden keys.

2\. The spirits of the silver keys.

DARK CELESTIAL MAGIC

Dark celestial magic makes use of contracts between the _mythical_ spirit world and the human world.

The spirits that can be used are:-

1\. All mythical spirits.

AFFINITIES

LIGHT CELESTIAL MAGIC:

Can be used with or against all kinds of magic, except dark magic.

DARK CELESTIAL MAGIC

Can be used with or against any sort of magic, except light celestial magic.

WEAKNESSES

LIGHT CELESTIAL MAGIC

Depends upon the individual spirit's magic.

DARK CELESTIAL MAGIC

Depend upon the individual spirit's magic. Although, Dark Celestial magic, on the whole, is naturally _weak_ to Light Celestial magic. 

The book dropped to the floor. If this 'Lucius' person used Dark Celestial magic, only Yukino or I would be able to fight him.

Then why was my name written, and not Yukino's? I thought about it for a while. Then it struck me. Of course. It made perfect sense that way.

But why was it written on my leg by Misha in a way that would spell destruction for themselves?

That was the only inconsistency I found.

I removed the bandage from my foot again (the one on which my name was). I inspected it closely. There were cuts I hadn't noticed before.

'It can't happen.'

So it was a little odd. My mind was working overtime. I couldn't think anymore about that. I slumped down in my seat and stared at the shelf opposite me.

I heard footsteps from the direction of the stairs. "Here you are, Lucy."

"Natsu!" I exclaimed.

"What were you planning to do by removing your bandages?"

"Uhm... there is some writing on my feet that Misha carved out. I was just checking them out."

"Show me." He was already close.

"It's nothing important." I said, trying to put my bandages back on.

He caught both my hands and held them to my side and with his free hand, moved around my foot to get a better view. I was red because of the contact.

Natsu read out what was written and released my hands so he could remove the bandages from my other foot. After looking at both, he made a serious face which led me to assume that he was 'thinking'.

But then, he turned to face me, and gave me an apologetic smile "I don't know what it means, Luce." I sighed. So he was still normal.

"I think I figured it out." I said, which made him beam.

"What is it then?"

"I can't explain everything as yet. I have to confirm a few things still. All you need to know is that those guys from last night are after Fairy Tail, and supposedly I'm the only person who can defeat their master. You will all have to deal with their lackeys."

"So mean. I want to take down their master, especially after all that he has done."

"It's okay. I'm confident I can do it."

"I know you can. It's just that _I_ wanted to do it."

"I know Natsu. But Fairy Tail is at stake here."

He was going to say something else, but Levy-chan entered, cutting him off.

"Lu-chan! I've been waiting for you. I have to ask you so much! Natsu get out."

"Why?" Natsu and I chorused, curious. Then our eyes locked, and I was the first to look away, embarrassed.

"Just go out Natsu... I have to talk to Lu-chan about things I didn't get a chance to earlier."

Natsu groaned and exited the archive unwillingly. I gulped. I didn't know what Levy-chan was going to ask me, but this would be BAD.

"Lu-chan..." she said cocking her eyebrows with a smug expression plastered on her face. "How was your date?"

"Huh? What date?"

"That date you had with someone called Alex."

Was there an Alex I knew? Then it flashed, after my few seconds of spacing out. Realisation struck me with its face-palming facts. I lied to Levy-chan about having to go on a date, when I actually was meeting Emily-chan.

I tried to think of what to answer her. She'd probably freak out if I'd tell her it was all a lie, and say that I didn't enjoy being in her company. If I told her it was great, she'd want to know the details. If I told her it was disastrous, then too she'd want to know the details. I had only one way to escape. "Uhm... I didn't go out with him because he backed out in the last minute."

"Oh... II feel so bad for you, Lu-chan... I hope you find someone."

"I do too, Levy-chan." I felt bad for lying to her, but it was for the best. A loud sound rang in my ears . like something large banged against the floor (well, ceiling for Levy and me.)

"What was that Lu-chan?"

"I don't know. Let's check it out." Levy supported me, while I limped across the room and on the stairs. Due to my limping, I was out of breath when we reached the guild hall.

There was a huge dent along with burn marks on the main door of the guild, which had fallen down due to the impact, mostly. "What happened here?" levy-chan asked while helping me on to a seat.

Mira-san was worried as she looked outside. She faced us after a few moments of silence. "It was Natsu. He got angry about something and did this. It was a different sort of anger. I'm worried for him. What happened so suddenly? He was fine a moment ago."

Worry and confusion spread across my face too. "I need to go." I said. I knew where he'd be. I hoped he'd at least tell me what was wrong.

I slipped on my shoes and ran out of the guild, despite the pain that surged through my feet. Somehow I felt like it was my responsibility. Something was pricking me at the back of my head.

I rushed toward the place I knew he would be, and luckily for me, no one was following behind. I entered the thick growth and ran down the slope. The path was mostly clear, so I didn't have to push away too many branches.

The undergrowth became wilder as I entered deeper into the forest. I didn't notice a twig that stuck out of the forest floor at a funny angle, so my foot got caught under it, and I tripped. Seeing as the gradient was slope-y, I rolled down, earning a few cuts and bruises to add to the ones I had already.

I suddenly felt myself in the air, not touching the ground. I opened my eyes. Oh no! I was falling. I didn't have my keys on too. Hard luck pays off! I braced for impact, hoping I'd still have my bones intact. I felt the pressure of the air blowing against me. I could only close my eyes.

Arigatou for reading minna! Gomene if this chapter was a bit short and boring... I have a mild writers' block (who knew writers' block was a disease that could be rated on the degree of infection?)  
Lol, don't pay attention to that.  
Please comment too... I really appreciate it. I would love to hear you views and work on the uh... mistakes. :D


	7. Chapter 7

I expected to touch the ground after a few seconds, which I did. But I didn't feel pain! Surprising.

No, wait. It wasn't the ground. It was a warm and soft landing. I slowly opened my eyes to see tan skin set against salmon-pink hair with onyx eyes that stared down at me with worry. I blushed at crimson at the close contact and tried to get off, but Natsu didn't let me.

"You're still hurt, Lucy. Why did you come here?"

"Everyone was worried at the guild..."

"Worried? About what?"

"You. They wondered why you were so angry."

"Those guys are back. You shouldn't be alone like that. They won't let you live after last night."

"Why what did I do to earn that?"

"Nothing. They're just 'that' kind of people."

I kept quiet. I understood what he meant. Natsu set me down on the grass. It was still wet with dew. I wrapped my arms around my knees, but was careful not to put too much pressure on my feet. The wounds opened up, so I put just enough pressure on them so the blood wouldn't flow out, at the same time, so that they didn't pain much.

Natsu sat down on the grass next to me spreading his legs in front of him and supported his torso by placing his hands on the grass behind him.

"Luce..."

"What?"

"What did you figure out about the light and dark thing on your feet?"

"I guess I should tell you now. Listen, because I won't repeat it."

"Okay, Luce..."

I told him everything. I figured out, and when I was done, he said that according to the information he had too, what I concluded from all the events and clues I found matched.

He closed his eyes and laid down on his back. I looked up at the clear cool sky. the wind blew across my face making my hair block my view. I listened to the sound of the crickets, the birds in the trees, almost everything in that glade. It was so peaceful, that I wanted to stay there forever. But the guild members would worry if we didn't go back soon, so I denied myself the pleasure of staying there in the glade, alone with _Natsu_.

"Natsu, we need to get back soon. Everyone at the guild may be worried still."

He just made a sound of approval, but didn't move a muscle. I shook him a few times, but he just groaned and turned away and laid on his stomach.

"Natsu! Get up. Or I'll leave you here."

He sprung up immediately. Were my words that effective? I got up too and dusted the back of my clothes, so that any stray grass or dirt wouldn't stick to it.

I yelped in surprise when Natsu pushed me back down on the grass, back-down. His hands were on my shoulders, but he held them gently, so my bandaged shoulder didn't pain me. He landed on top of me, and even though he was heavy, I didn't feel his full weight upon me.

I turned beet red at his sudden action. I was not used to Natsu behaving in this way. When he pinned me down, I noticed an arrow zooming past above us.

"They already got to us." He spoke low, as if to himself. I was possibly even darker than crimson, feeling his breath against my cheek. Natsu seemed not to notice me, and for that I was thankful. He got off me, and I didn't even say anything about his actions.

"Do you have your keys?"

"I don't."

"Good. So I can deal with him on my own." He took up his position, ready to pounce at the attacker on his next strike. Another arrow came into view. It was heading straight for me. I ducked in time, but didn't see another that came in the shadow of the first. It struck my thigh and I screamed, unwillingly.

Natsu immediately rushed to my side. "Lucy! Are you fine?"

"Yeah." He shot me a disbelieving look, but turned his back to me, somewhat in a posture between defence and offence.

"We know you're there, just stop being a coward, and show yourself." Natsu bellowed, to which he didn't receive a reply. There was a rustling in the bush, which I turned to face. I'd have to at least restrain the person with my martial arts, even though it wasn't strong. A person came out of the bushes. I couldn't recognise her at first, but when I closely looked at her features, saw her flaming orange hair...

"Emily-chan!" I gasped looking at the gashes and wounds that covered her pale quivering body. I almost ran to her.

"What happened to you?"

"M-Mis...ha..." she said, and collapsed. I was about to kneel down next to her, but a sharp gust of wind made it tough for me to do so. I flew back because of the gale, and was just praying that I wouldn't bang into something. I'd had enough of that. I landed on top of Natsu, my back pressing against his. I blushed due to embarrassment and scooted away to Emily after apologising to him. The wind died down, and I was about to touch Emily, just to check if she was stable, when a tan hand slapped mine away.

"What was that for?" I yelled. "I was just going to check her pulse."

"She'll explode if you touch her." I nodded in understanding.

"Where's that archer?"

"I can't sense him."

"Oh, I wish I had my keys."

"It's fine. I can handle him."

Another array of arrows came from one side of the glade. Natsu dashed there, igniting his closed fists with blazing fires as he did. I dodged the arrows, unaware that a few came from behind me. What was with these arrows?

I suddenly felt Natsu behind me. I spun around to see his face scrunched up in pain. The arrow struck him in his back.

"Natsu! What happened?"

"They're aiming the arrows at you. If you could run, I would tell you to, but that's where the problem lies."

"I can run perfectly fine. But I'm going to stay here and he-lp. No. I'm more of a burden. I'll leave."

"It's not whether or not you're a burden. You're not one to me. You can't run because we're surrounded by the enemy. Actually, I can't determine the exact location, so there may be more than one."

"Oh."

"You shouldn't move around till I find the enemy for sure. I can't protect you and search for him at the same time."

"I can protect myself."

"Ugh. Whatever." He was somehow getting on my nerves. He had that ability.

But it was odd. We were in the middle of a battle, where we wouldn't start bickering with each other. We were perfectly fine a moment ago too, and what we said wouldn't usually irritate the other, so it was funny that we were fighting. No actually, it was just me.

I tried to look around for the enemy, even though my vision wasn't good like Natsu's. We were facing away from each other, our back touching.

We heard a noise from a bush, and instantaneously looked at it. In that one split second of distraction, the enemy shot arrows from all around. We had to counterattack. Natsu pinned me down to the ground along with him, but the arrows to follow. It was because of its trajectory.

Natsu growled and got up, his body enveloping in flames. The arrows burned due to the intense heat. Just then, Natsu's eyes widened. He inhaled deeply and blew out his famous Fire Dragon Roar.

Everything around was burned to a crisp. Then I sensed it- a magic barrier whose radius was so large, we didn't realise it was there. That was the reason we couldn't determine the location of the enemy. Of course! They'd be able to attack, but we wouldn't.

I immediately started chanting a spell, one that Levy-chan taught me earlier, to help remove the magic barrier. I looked at Natsu and anger welled up in me. He wasn't doing _anything_ to irritate me, so I wondered why I was angry.

I tried to shrug it off and concentrate on the spell. I fell backwards with a flash of white light all around me. I was rocketing at such speed, that I knew I wouldn't survive if I hit. But, there was an _if._

The magic barrier disintegrated and I saw the evening sky outside. Wait. Evening? It stopped time too? So much for a magic barrier.

I felt my anger toward Natsu dissolve along with the barrier. Was the barrier responsible for that too?

A pair of strong muscular arms wrapped around my body, whose velocity only _he_ could match.

"Why were we fighting, Luce?"

"Must be because of the barrier." I croaked.

"Oh, okay. You rest for now." He noticed my heavy uneven breathing, my rapid heartbeat and my flushed cheeks. It was not due to Natsu's proximity though. The reason was my inevitable jaw-rattling ride and also my magic consumption.

Spells did need a lot of magic energy, even if a person whose magic was using spells did it. The only spell I had known before was Celestial Spirit magic spells, namely _only_ Urano Metria. Using spells was not my usual form of magic, so of course it would take its toll on me.

Natsu laid me down on a patch of grass, while I tried to regain my breath and magic.

I heard a battle cry, and smiled to myself. It would all soon be over. I closed my eyes, but stayed attentive. There could be more enemies still lurking around.

After about an hour of lying down, I felt a little better so I tried to sit up. I leaned against the bark of a tree, when I heard a threatening voice come from behind me.

NO! NOT AGAIN! NATSU ISN'T EVEN HERE FOR MAVIS' SAKE!

Sorry for the short chapter... I'll update again as soon as possible... though I don't know when that'll be (~')...

I had to study for a math test actually... my teacher was upset with my score... so I had to do better on the next one... I hope it goes fine... tomorrow!

Ugh... I'm so bad at Math. :(

Okay... skip this whole thing.

Don't forget to vote, and comment and anything else that I forgot.

Jaa ne, mata!


	8. Chapter 8

The woman's voice echoed through the woods, sending shivers down my spine. Then I heard a giggle which didn't belong to the woman. The dark aura surrounded me, giving off bad vibes. That 'cat' wasn't going to survive for long.

"Lucy! Surrender yourself."

I turned to face the red-haired woman with confidence ringing in my voice. I spoke to her acidly, something she didn't expect.

"ERZA! This isn't the time to be fooling around. Don't scare me like that again." She noticed my sour mood and chuckled to lighten the mood. "It was just a joke, Lucy. Here, your keys."

I brightened up at the word, and crawled to her, hugging her long slender legs. "Thanks, Erza." I smiled. I let go of her, and faced that annoying cat.

"STUPID CAT! DON'T GO OFF SCARING ME LIKE THAT!"

"Luu-ccy's s-sca-ared..."

"I'm not! Shut up you damn cat!" I flushed.

"Erza, what happened to you?" i looked at her. She seemed bruised and cut, like she'd been in a serious battle.

"We were all defeated in an instant, Lucy. We need your help."

"Huh? Who defeated you?"

"That guild's master. Elastic... Fare. He had the same mark as Misha."

"Misha... You saw her other mark? Now that I think about it, she did belong to Elastic Fare before she joined us. Rather, her fake join. How did you know?"

"She hid it in a very different way. It was on the nape of her neck. We were having our usual scandal at the guild when she was turned upside down. I was behind her, and am the only person who saw the mark. She is angry about that, so when she came to know, she threatened me. That was not bad, but Natsu threatened me too, after that."

I was stunned. Natsu, threatened Erza? For what? From what I could see, he was not in cahoots with Misha and her gang. Or was he?

No, no that was not possible. No way was that possible. But then I remembered it. He made a deal with Misha which she didn't keep up. Does that mean he betrayed Fairy Tail. He couldn't... he loved the guild..

And oh, the deal was about not harming someone dear to him. How could I forget about that? Was I doubting Natsu? The one I finally developed feelings for?

I felt guilty and confused. Guilty because of doubting Natsu, even if it was for just a moment. I felt confused because I couldn't think of a reason for him to threaten Erza.

I was angry with him for that. No matter the reason, he shouldn't have threatened Erza. She was a great friend even if what she did sometimes wasn't very pleasing. And she could get really scary. I didn't want to remember the times.

But when it came to her friends, Erza would never do something to harm them, or even hurt them on purpose. She was one of the most supportive people I knew... knowing Erza so well, I could say that. She was one you could trust.

Natsu was in serious trouble... he better be prepared. I won't let this slide without an explanation from him. But the very next moment, I chuckled. How did he even threaten Erza? He'd have to be scarier than Erza to be able to do that. Meaning, Erza would have been scared of him in that moment.

Natsu could be intimidating, yes, but only in front of an enemy, well, mostly. The thought of Natsu threatening Erza, and she obliging with it, or even getting backed into a corner to do it, was spine chilling.

I broke out my trance after what seemed like a few many seconds.

"I'll tell you everything to you in detail later, Lucy, if you don't already know about it. Just go defeat that master. I heard their lackeys saying only you could beat him. He's too strong for us."

It was a little shocking, that coming from Erza.

"Happy!" Erza called.

"Aye, sir!"

I took my keys from Erza and Happy flew me to the guild.

Okay, this was serious. I had magic power remaining because of the spell, and I was not sure if my physical condition was good enough if it came to a fist-fight.

Happy dropped me off outside the guild and went back to fetch Natsu. Indeed, that would be a great help. I faced the guild hall, which had things strewn about in every possible manner, my guildmates lying on the floor, all of them covered with bruises. Some of them tried to get up, but it seemed to be all in vain.

I made my way through, trying to ignore the saddening sight in front of me. I'd just have to take care of this 'Lucius' person, and then my friends would be safe.

Just a little while, and all would go back to normal... Elastic Fare... they wouldn't get away with hurting my friends. Determination was set in stone on my face. I would defeat him. I couldn't lose...


	9. Chapter 9

I stomped through the centre of the guild. I couldn't sense the enemy close by as yet. I pondered upon where they could be. A sweet familiar voice called out to me, making me forget my preoccupation. I was also, in a word, petrified.

"Lucy-san!" the flame-haired girl called out to me.

"H-how a-are you h-here?" I stuttered, my thoughts and emotions all mixed up.

"Huh! What are you talking about?" she said, confusion visible on her face.

"I-I saw you in the glade, and now you're here. But you were hurt badly, and couldn't move."

She seems dumbstruck, just like me. We stared at each other for what seemed like hours, though it was only a few seconds. I felt a sharp blow behind my knees, and fell backwards, only to be caught by one of my ankles and suspended in midair.

"Kyaahhh! Put me down." I screamed. I tried to catch a glimpse of the person's face.

I heard Emily growl low while he chuckled at her action. "Ahh... don't be so cold Caroline... Or should I say Emily? Hmm... let's see... Misha always communicates like this... carving out a message on people's feet."

I had been wriggling in his iron-tight grip, but froze when I heard him say that. Was Misha insane? Why would she go through all the trouble of carving out a message on people's feet?

Anyway, that was none of my concern for now. I tried to sit up in my inverted position to try get his hands off my ankle. I didn't notice Emily, the fierce expression on her face, or her taking out her sword.

She charged at him, and he left my foot almost immediately. I landed on my head and then my back hit the floor. Lucky for me, the drop wasn't that bad, so I didn't feel too dizzy or anything. I got back up, taking a battle stance.

My keys were suspended at my hip, and I reached out to grab them when I saw the man, pulling out a key of his own. It was a deep shade of bronze. So he was the dark celestial magic wizard.

He didn't notice my movements, it seemed, so I waited for him to strike first. I wanted to gauge him and his attacks so I could land a blow with sufficient power to knock him out.

If he was the master of the guild, 'Lucius' then I'd have only one question for him. One that still puzzled me, without which, some part of my theory still didn't make complete sense.

Emily lunged for that man, and he chanted to summon a spirit. I could see the fear on Emily's face, maybe the spirit was really dangerous and powerful. I watched as the spirit was summoned.

Jade green, a phoenix, it was surrounded by flames of the same shade and took up most5 of the room. Yeah... it did look scary. I put my key in front of me to summon _my_ spirit, but the phoenix charged at Emily before I did.

I could do nothing but watch as Emily fell down, defeated by just a slash of the phoenix's wing. She was out cold in an instant. Just how powerful was it?

I summoned Loke. "Been a long time, Lucy."

"Please, Loke..."

"On it."

And with one Regulus Impact, the phoenix was defeated. So whatever the book said was right.

"So here is our Light Celestial wizard. Hmm... seeing as I can't use magic to beat you, I'd just have tp beat you up in a fist fight."

I gulped hard. I wasn't up for it. He didn't pay attention to me and just went on, "I'm not as strong as when I was in my prime, but it's still enough to take you down."

I found my Fleuve Etoile lying on the floor next to me. I picked it up. Loke stool next to me. I knew what he was thinking. I summoned Virgo. The three of us should be able to do a lot of damage.

Well, was I wrong! (which I didn't know then) Virgo didn't appear in front of us and I know she was already laying a trap, thought it was a dud, or that I hadn't really summoned her and forgot which key was hers.

Loke and I didn't even _try_ to correct him. So overconfident... he didn't know that 'that' would lead to his downfall. I just smirked. He turned to face me.

"If the wizard is out, so are the spirits." He came charging at me. However, I was prepared; rather, my spirits were.

The first step he took, and the ground gave way. He fell into the pit, and I was sure it didn't affect him. With an effortless jump, he sprang back up, and before I could prepare an attack, he'd already zoomed past me.

I felt the warm sticky liquid dripping. All I could see was red. But that wouldn't stop me. I had my friends to save. I couldn't give up no matter how matter my head pained. I had my friends to save. I couldn't give up no matter how hard my head pained. I had to make it. There was another thing too. If I gave up, I wouldn't be worthy of him- of Natsu...

I stood back up after unintentionally falling down. I was light headed, but it wasn't too severe. I waved around my Fleuve Etoile.

It closed around the guy's hand and I tried to thrash him around. He played along, but was not affected by it. There weren't any scratches that formed on his body. All was in vain _again_.

Loke attacked him too, which had little effect, but 'Lucius' gave him a blow too strong to recover from immediately.

Loke had to leave and Virgo too, after she was dealt with similarly. That 'Lucius' came towards me, taking slow steps but I didn't look back. I stood my ground; if I moved, it would be a sign of weakness.

I felt it now. I knew it. I was useless, and no matter how much I tried to change that fact, it didn't happen. There wasn't anything I could do to attack him; he would take his attacks head-on.

First the stalling. The best way to so that, in my opinion, was to talk. That would keep him a little busy and distracted.

"I want to know why you are attacking Fairy Tail." I blurted out. I wanted to say it differently, though.

"I'm guessing you already know. After all, you met Caroline Lee." I nodded.

"Okay, you want to be known the best by defeating us. But your ways aren't normal."

"How aren't they, may I ask?"

"Firstly, you threatened Natsu about the one dearest to him, and you even played dirty before that. You kidnapped Happy. You wanted me to be out of your way because my magic negates yours. I understand only so much. And... yeah... you posted Misha to spy on us.

"What I don't understand is... why go through Natsu? You didn't have to trouble him. And even if you wanted to trouble someone, anyone in the guild would do, since we're all family. I'm sure Misha realised that too."

"You're right. I didn't have to trouble anyone. But I had fun torturing Salamander emotionally."

"How? No... wait. Who is this 'dearest'?"

He burst out into laughter, clutching at his stomach from his fits of laughs. "You still didn't realise it? Wow, I didn't know you were so dense." And he continued roaring with laughter.

"Who is it? Tell me."

I felt a warm hand clasp around mine. I tilted my heard to the left. Natsu stood there, smiling down at me. Then he faced that 'Lucius' and his face became dead serious.

He squeezed my hand and then left it. I stood there watching as his took steps towards his... no, our opponent... whole of Fairy Tail's opponent. I knew I couldn't do anything much.

"Natsu..." I started but didn't know what to say next.

"Yeah, Luce?"

"I have faith in you."

He gave me his toothy grin, and I smiled back. I felt comforted to the highest degree. My heart fluttered and breathing paced up, meaning I was happy seeing him near. I could explain the feeling, but I felt satisfied, even in this tight situation.

I heard our opponent summon. I wasted no time and pulled out one of my keys. "OPEN! GATE OF THE RAM, ARIES!"

"Sumimasen!" arioes appeared and stood in front of the towering jade unicorn. Being surrounded be pink wool, not only was the unicorn constricted physically, but also disintegrated at the contact it made with the wool belonging to the Light Celestial spirit.

Natsu said "Keep those spirits busy. I'll deal with him."

I realised it now. Natsu wanted my help. The second time today. He loved doing things himself and never asked anybody usually. I was so happy he asked.

In spite of me being a burden in many ways, he'd let me help. He wasn't weak. He could handle all of them on his own.

It was like he read my mind. He knew I wanted to help and he told me to, without me asking him myself. It was like he'd known me my whole life. Aries was dealing with the spirits that were constantly summoned, while I kept a lookout for any other enemies that could arrive.

The fight between Natsu and that 'Lucius' was neck-and-neck. Though I knew Natsu would pull through in the end. I was worried for that 'Lucius'. I heard the familiar battle cry that always ensured victory.

The battle was pretty short. Just when I wasn't looking (from what Natsu told me), he landed a punch on Lucius which knocked him out cold. And his words were true to the sight i saw after the action had been done.

Natsu came4 up to me, though not as injured or exhausted as I was. That was mostly because of the incident of the previous night.

He placed his hands on my shoulders and crouched down to my level. I sat on the floor with my legs crossed ( I wasn't bothered to behave like a 'dignified lady').

"Luce, are you hurt?" It was a simple question he asked me. Many people had asked me that countless times before. But the way _he_ said it, his now husky voice laced with worry, I couldn't help but blush hearing it.

"Yeah." I replied. Then I let out a nasty smirk and had a smug expression on my face. "You owe me a _lot_ of explanations." Stressing the _lot._

I expected him to be a little confused or shocked. But he never stopped amazing me.

"So do you."


	10. Chapter 10

At last the area was calm. The weather was back to being sunny and apparently, the cold was because of Misha's magic. She had Anomalous Conditions Magic, true to her words, and lucky for her, she avoided Wendy.

But she had another magic to alter the weather- atmokinesis, but it wasn't very advanced. There was another guy too, and his name was Alex (the one in the train station). He kind of had a magic that allowed him to control his surroundings, as well as create magic barriers.

I would say they were really skilled if they weren't facing us. Erza had to only defeat Misha as Natsu beat up Alex to a pulp. Erza came back happy, and when she saw Natsu, she had a satisfied smile spread over her face. Natsu smiled back at her and said sorry, she waved her hand around like it was nothing and Natsu looked like he had a huge burden off him.

The neighbouring guilds came to help heal the injured. My head was bandaged well and so were my other bruises. Erza forced Natsu and me to leave so could get some rest.

I found it a little suspicious. Anyways, Emily seemed fine so she had been helping out at the guild. The Emily I saw in the glade was mostly an illusion, but would have exploded if I touched it nevertheless.

Coming back to present, I stumbled out of the guild, not being allowed to help with the guild. Everyone had evil grins plastered on their faces.

I couldn't shrug it off, nor could I stay for long. I walked home, taking the beautiful twilight sky. the birds flying back to their homes in the forest, the orange-ish sun halfway below the horizon, the sky mostly cloudless, but with a beautiful red and orange and yellow and pink and violet glow; it was like I hadn't enjoyed natures gifts in a long time. Before I knew it, I stopped walking. I closed my eyes and lifted my arms to my sides, and stood on my toes.

I felt free, like a bird. I was imitating a bird now. I was doing all this unaware of his presence behind me. I felt the cool breeze blow in my face, my hair flying out of my way. The moment seemed too perfect to be true.

Two hands were placed on either side of my waist, which made me shriek in surprise. My eyes opened in confusion too. I looked back, turning only my neck to glare at him for ruining my peaceful moment. He didn't make eye-contact with me, just slowly lifted me up, with me screaming at him to put me down.

But Natsu was Natsu. He threw me in the air and I couldn't do anything to escape him. I somehow landed on his back, and he started to piggy-back me home.

I was saddened by what he did. No, not with him suddenly lifting me up or anything. After all, I was happy to spend time with him. I expected him to carry me bridal style, not piggy-back style!

But he was so warm... I nuzzled my face into his scarf filled with his scent and he seemed to freeze at my touch, yet he continued walking.

"Natsu, you can put me down." I said, but my mind was screaming at me differently. Which I was too ashamed to think of.

"You seem too comfortable in that position right now."

I flushed. He just chuckled. Was Natsu really dense?

I didn't say anything after that, afraid of something wrong escaping my lips. Luckily for me, we reached my apartment soon. Natsu set me down and I walked to open my door without making eye contact with Natsu.

"Luce... You're making weird faces again."

"Thanks for the _compliment_ , Natsu." I spoke acidly. He just kept on laughing.

"Are you coming in or what?"

"I'm allowed?"

"Since when did you start 'indirectly' asking for permission to barge into my house?" really, Natsu was too unpredictable. Was he just planning to drop me off and leave immediately?

"Since now, Luce!" and he walked past me, through the door. I felt my heart skip a beat. His nickname for me... Luce...

I went directly to the bathroom and rinsed off my burning face. I changed into my pyjamas that hung behind the door and cautiously stepped into the kitchen, from where I could hear loud noises.

I saw a stupefying sight. Natsu. Cooking. In. my. Kitchen.

"NATSU! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? I COULD COOK IF YOU WANTED ME TO!"

"Geez, all girls are loud."

"Say what, Natsu?" i felt my dark aura surrounding me. Natsu gulped in fear of what could happen next. I cooled myself down and walked over to the stove. I was going to cook. I wouldn't allow him to. He didn't even know how to for Mavis' sake! I don't think I'd be alive if I ate his cooking.

I stepped on a spoon without my knowledge, which made me trip, as it lifted the carpet that my foot went under. I got back my balance and picked the spoon. Natsu wasn't going to live today.

He probably noticed me getting angry again, because he grabbed the spoon out of my hand and put a strawberry milkshake in its place.

I quieted down immediately. "You made this? Thank you Natsu." I said and was about to hug him, but stopped myself in the nick of time.

He chuckled. "Luce, you're so easy to please."

I blushed in embarrassment.

"You look cute blushing." He said and started laughing. I stared at him with wide open disbelieving eyes. He realised what he said when he caught me staring and turned crimson.

WHAT! I didn't know he could blush too!

I found myself sitting at the table sipping my milkshake in a half trance to assemble my thoughts. Natsu seated himself in the seat next to mine looking very nervous.

NATSU! You're going to be the death of me! Stop scaring me with your new behaviour!

I smirked in victory. I could get my answers from him now!

"Natsu..." i said in an amused tone.

"Y-yeah, Luce?" good, he was still embarrassed.

"Time for you to spill out everything that you hid from me."

"Y-yeah."

I chuckled and ran up to my room to list down all my questions so I didn't forget anything.

 _1\. Who was the 'dearest' person to him?_

 _2\. Why was he so 'clingy' to me the past few days?_

 _3\. How and why did he threaten Erza?_

I ran back out only to be greeted ne banging into Natsu. He pushed me back into my room and forced me to sit on my bed. I read out the first question.

"Next." He said.

"No fair, Natsu."

"I'll answer it after I ask you _my_ question."

I was curious about what he wanted to ask me. What did I hide from him?

"Okay. Fire away." He seemed taken aback that I agreed so quickly. I giggled. He looked so nervous, yet cute. Wait. WHAT?

"You know Alex, right?" I nodded.

"Not personally, but yeah, you know our history." After all, who could forget our leg-breaking episode?

"H-history?" he looked shocked, like someone had managed to defeat him in one blow. "So I was right." He mumbled almost unintelligibly.

"About what? Natsu, you're confusing me."

"You went on a date with him, right?"

"Me? A date? With him? Are you joking Natsu, and... why are you even bothered?" I was confused and a little annoyed at him for not making things clear.

"I'm bothered because of my own reasons. Tell me you didn't go out with him."

Somehow, I felt the need to answer him, though I didn't know what he was getting at. "For the last time Natsu, I didn't."

"Then who'd you go out with?"

"No one."

"But you told Levy..."

Then it clicked. Oh! My lie. I laughed.

"Why are you laughing? Don't make fun of me Luce."

"I had to meet up with Emily-chan but I didn't tell anyone, and I didn't want anyone with me. So I made up a lie about going on a date. When she asked me, I told her he didn't come, because I didn't know what to say otherwise."

He sighed relief. "Luce, why didn't you let anyone come along?"

"I didn't want to worry you all."

"Not informing us was what made us worry, actually."

"Okay, I won't do it again" he had a sad face on, which I didn't want to see. "Now, your turn to answer my questions."

"Before that..." he smirked and placed g=his forefinger under my chin, and bent down to my level. I felt the blood rush to my face and I knew he noticed it.

"Luce..."

"Y-yes, Natsu?"

"Do you like me even?"

"What kind of question is that, Natsu? Of course I do. You're my best friend after all."

"Am I just your best friend?" he whispered sadly.

"You're also my teammate."

He sighed.

"Luce... I don't know if you feel the same," he paused and sat next to me, closing his eyes. "but I've started to like you more than I had before."

I gasped. He too?

"You've always been there for me. Like food when I'm hungry."

I sweat-dropped. "No, Natsu, _you've_ always been there for me. And, did you have to compare me to food? Anyway, even I feel the same way. I thought you didn't so I kept it to myself, but I wanted to tell you one day. Thinking you were denser than me, I didn't make my move sooner. Well, now I know that you're not as dense as I thought you were.

He gave me a toothy grin and my heart fluttered. "You'll never be late, Luce." I smiled at him and cupped his left cheek with my right hand.

"Natsu... All this time, no matter what, you've always been with me, protected me... and I've never been able to-"

"Luce, you've done e-" i silenced him by placing a finger on his lips.

"-the way I wanted to. I'll never forgive you for that." I said sarcastically, and playfully, teasing him, while he just pouted.

I pinched his cheeks till they turned red. He didn't protest at my actions, though. I doubt he even felt pain. I smiled widely the whole time, probably looking like an idiot.

"Do you want to know the person dearest to me?" I perked up. He brought up the topic this time! Was it someone else? That person who was dearest to Natsu?

"I'll give you a few hints. She's beautiful." Erza, maybe? Mira? I didn't know he could fall for devils.

"She loves books." Oh great now, really, Levy? Does he have a death wish which he wants personally granted by Gajeel or something?

"I _feel_ like I've known her for very long." Great, now who? Erza? Mira? Cana? Lisanna? Who else was there? He did mention that he _felt_ that way, but still...

"Got it?"

"Nope. Not in the slightest." He gave me a sad smile and continued.

"She's in front of me." My breathing stopped. In fact, the whole world felt like it stopped. I was dear to Natsu? I was overflowing with happiness. It felt like I was on cloud nine.

"If you need more confirmation, her name is Lucy Heartfilia, in short, you."

I felt tears of joy falling out of my eyes. Natsu panicked. It was so much fun seeing this side of his. I tackled him for a bear-tight hug, which he gladly returned. He breathed heavily onto my neck, which tickled me.

"Why did you threaten Erza?" I felt him tense.

"I-it was because s-she came to know about this guild trying to attack our guild and I came to know that she knew. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone about it, so I threatened her not to take action as yet. Or else-"

"Or else?"

"Or else they would attack you. I just wanted to protect you."

My heart warmed. Natsu was so thoughtful. I chuckled to lighten up the mood.

"Be sure to apologise to her."

"I already did."

"Good." I ruffled his hair, which he seemed to enjoy. He held both my hands and pulled me to himself for another hug. I wrapped my arms around him and placed my chin on his shoulder. He did the same.

I felt warm, secure, happy that finally I found the one who would complete me. The one who'd make me smile. The one without whom, my days would be empty. The one who was always by my side. The who was made for me.

"Natsu..."

"Yes, Luce?"

I pulled away from him and placed my forehead on his with closed eyes.

"Natsu... thank you for everything. For being my friend, and now someone special to me." I had a light blush on my cheeks, but didn't seem to mind it.

"You've always been special to me, Luce!"

"Hey! That's what I meant to say!"

"Luce, you're lying."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm n-" I was cut off by fits of laughter erupting from me, seeing as Natsu started tickling me.

"N-Natsu, s-stop. P-please..."

He kept tickling me, and I wriggled wildly. He finally stopped and I sat up, trying to catch my breath.

"You're in deep trouble, Natsu!"

He ran around with me trying to catch him. I eventually succeeded, but was attacked by another round of tickling. We settled in for the night, which after a lot of debating against Natsu sleeping on _my_ bed _with_ me, I agreed.

He stayed to his side, and I to mine. I felt blissful in the moment. I found someone who wants me as much as I want him. The mutual affection was so dear to me. We wished each other goodnight, taking our own turns, and stammering even those small two words. I bet Natsu was blushing as furiously as me.

The last words we spoke to each other, and coincidentally, at the same time, kept us both smiling and flustered in our dreams.

"Never imagined it'd be you that was made for me."


End file.
